Threads Connected
by Deiru Tamashi
Summary: Sequel to "Destinies Intertwined" 3 years after Deiru and the others saved Cocoon peace is threatened once more. With Serah and Noel at his side, Deiru must once again embark on a journey. But this time he must strive to save not just the world, but time itself. Rated T just in case. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

**Notice:**Thank you all so much, my fellow readers of fanfiction, for helping me decide the title of this story. So here it is, the sequel to Destinies Intertwined, Threads Connected! Also note, whenever the point of view through which this story is told is changed, it will be marked by a line saying (Point of View Change: …). Besides the first part of this chapter though, the story will mostly be told through the point of view of Deiru.

_Last Story:_

Deiru Tamashi, an average human sixteen year-old, arrives home from school one day and decides to start a new game on his copy of Final Fantasy XIII. But as soon as he does however, a meteorite strikes the field near his home, and he investigates. Upon arriving the rest of the meteorites fall, and Deiru is hit by one. When he awakened he has no injuries, save for a silver crescent-shaped burn mark on the bottom of his right forearm. Later he arrives home, but when he starts the new game a line of script that doesn't appear in the game tells him that his fate had been altered, and he will be rewarded a choice beyond value should he follow the path of the l'Cie to its conclusion. Just as he reads this he is enveloped in light, and is transported to the world of Cocoon.

Using strange powers that he obtained upon arriving, Deiru meets up with the other characters and branded a l'Cie alongside them, and also learns that he had been brought into this world by the goddess Etro. The makers of FFXIII had captured the timeline of a real world and built it into a game, so anything that _any_ player of _any_ game did would be reflect in the real Final Fantasy world. The timeline of it was rewritten, altered, bended over and backwards so much it was in danger of shattering, and Etro brought Deiru here to prevent it. If he traveled with the l'Cie then the true timeline would be altered, and the game version of the events would no longer affect it.

And so Deiru traveled with the l'Cie to save the timeline and finish their Focus, eventually developing feeling for Lightning along the way. She unknowingly had feelings for him as well, and shortly after Deiru severely injured himself to save her life in Palumpolum they came together. When they attacked the _Palamecia_to save Vanille and Sazh they also learned that Barthandelus had brought a childhood friend of Deiru's, Sofia, into this world to use as a hostage against Deiru and the other. Luckily they were able to save her and defeat Dysley, though still ending up in the Fifth Ark. Later, Deiru learns that his powers were given to him by Etro, and his seventh one, a homicidal alter ego named Uried, awakened when fighting Raines.

Deiru was able to regain control of his body and the group traveled to Pulse where they, after several mishaps and delays, learned Dysley's plan in Oerba and returned to Cocoon, hoping to stop him. After reaching the heart of Orphan's Cradle and defeating both it and Barthandelus, Uried emerged from Deiru's body and tried to use the energy released by their deaths to take physical form. After a long battle they defeated him as well, and while Vanille, Fang and Sofia became Ragnarok and saved Cocoon the other l'Cie turned to crystal.

In a rift in the Void Beyond Etro gathered Deiru, his family and Lightning, offering Deiru the choice to either stay in the world of Cocoon or go home. After much thinking he chose to stay, and after bidding farewell to his family Deiru was given his tenth and final power by the goddess. The spell could only be used once, but would free all the l'Cie from their crystals and allow them to retain the use of magic and Eidolons, placing a timer on Vanille, Fang and Sofia so that they too would awaken when Cocoon fell. The story ended with Deiru formally introducing himself to Serah, and Lightning giving her blessing for her and Snow's marriage.

Three years pass...

**Threads Connected**

Ch.1 Unending Battle

_That time was lost, yet time continued__onward__._

In a world beyond time a clock struck thirteen, bells chiming. They once would have made the merry melodies of celebration, but now the bells tolled a grave funeral dirge. In the heart of the grand temple, black and white feathers floated in the air over a blue crystal throne, which hovered over a hole in the ground while light fell upon, sparkling with unnatural radiance.

_Divine__Etro__, go peacefully your rest. We will stand guard over your legacy._

Before throne two figures, and man and a woman, knelt and placed a hand over their hearts. Their oaths sworn, the two stood and exited the throne room, armor clanking. Once they were outside, they each rested a hand on the balcony and looked on at the world they were in.

_This endless realm is awash with sadness. Life and death lose all meaning under the rolling waves of chaos._

Beneath a gray clouded sky countless empty stone buildings, some with the same greens rings as the temple, covered the land before ending a gray sand beach. Beyond the beach was an endless sea, over which hung several floating buildings and rock formations.

_Valhalla. The currents of time do not touch its shores._

The couple reared their heads back, eyes closing as a vision flashed before them. A young man fell through a seemingly endless realm, orange in color and filled with spinning gears.

_In this world of lost moments, begin our lives anew._

The couple looked down and opened their eyes, looking forward. The woman, Lightning, had fair skin and aqua-blue eyes, with pink hair that fell over one shoulder and unto her chest. She wore armor that was silver in color and with a shield strapped to her left arm, while down her right leg was a trail of snow-white feathers. The man, Deiru, had slightly tanned skin and was only taller than Lightning by one or two inches, with a single eye that was as blue as a sapphire. The other was covered a black eyepatch, and his hair was a chaotic mess of black spikes. His armor was similar to Lightning's, only gold and with a silver crescent in the center of his chest rather than a gold bird, and instead of his leg a trail of pitch-black feathers was attached to his right arm.

On his back was a large silver steel sword, five feet in length and a foot wide, edged on one sword. The handle was wrapped in silver and blue cloth, and on the hilt and handle was a silver crescent moon. Along the non-edged side of the blade was line of Etro Script which read "_By__Etro's__will and Pulse's hand, forged from the fang of__Lindzei__, she whose poisonous words ensnare man's will.__Indomitus__, the sword whose silver blade pierces through the starry heavens."_ Deiru stood beside his beloved, Lightning, and the two looked out at a scene on the beach. Footprints had been made in the sand, and a man carrying a young girl walked into the water until he was waist deep.

The man, Caius Ballad, was tall and slender, with tanned skin and long purple hair, held back by a purple and black headband adorned with feathers and tribal beads. His eyes, full of sorrow at the sight of the girl lying limp in his arms, were as purple as his hair. His black and purple armor fitted to his form and resembled that of the Eidolon Bahamut, with white fur lining his boots and Etro Script written that said "Undying Witness of Infinite Fate." On his back was a large and wickedly spiked sword with a curved blade, an eye-shaped eidolith set into the hilt.

Caius grunted as he laid the girl into the water, and her body glowed before fading to golden dust. He held up his hand, watching the dust slip between his fingers and vanish, asking "This eternity, it was never you desire. Is that not so, Yeul?" Abruptly he clenched his fist, flashes appearing in his mind. The crystallization of Cocoon, the same world falling, and a gate to Valhalla opening. He spread his arms and countless Rift Beasts burst out of the water, flying through the air. Caius smirked and turned to looks at the two figures on the balcony.

Countless monsters flew through the air and the Eidolons Stiria and Nix flew forward, while Deiru and Lightning watched. "Warrior gods," he said, drawing his sword. The eidolith glowed with power, and he called "Now we cross swords!" Both Lightning and Deiru drew their weapons, and he slammed his sword on the ground before vaulting forward. On the shores of Valhalla the two respective armies clashed, Gorgonopsids attacking the rift beasts on the ground while Amphisbaenas chased the ones in the air. "Lose yourselves on battle, and rejoice!" he called, sending a wave of explosive energy across the ground. The Shiva Sisters flew forward, both casting Blizzaga and trapping Caius in ice.

Nix readied to deal the finishing blow, but he shattered the ice and grabbed her face. While she struggled he smiled, saying "Embrace the terror." Stiria flew forward to help her sister, but once she got close Caius threw Nix into her, sending both Eidolons rolling across the ground. In front of him he saw Lightning ride forth on her steed Odin and Deiru run besides her, weapons drawn. He chuckled before summoning a huge circle of power. "Husk of the wandering comet... I summon thee!" he called, pointing his sword into the air. The ground around him exploded as the ground below and around him was lifted into the air, forcing Deiru and Lightning to stop.

The circle rose high into the air, through which a beam of energy shot and pierced the clouds. Said clouds stirred before parting, revealing a gargantuan meteorite. Slowly it fell, while dozens of small ones shot down at incredible speed. Whenever they hit the ground they exploded, and Caius chuckled when he saw Lightning and Deiru just standing there. They grunted and jumped up, leaping from rock to rock in pursuit. Unfortunately one almost hit a rock at the same moment Odin jumped onto it, but Deiru blasted it with Ruinga spell while Lightning leaped off her steed. The explosion sent Odin off the rock and Lightning's blade out of her hand, stabbing into a rock.

Lightning jumped onto the bottom of another boulder, leaping towards her sword while Deiru jumped into the air. Spinning around her sword and vaulting herself up, Lightning pulled her sword out and calling "Caius Ballad!" "Time to die!" Deiru called, and he sent a wave of energy at both of them. While Deiru knocked it away and into the rift beasts, Lightning redirected the blast into the summoning circle in the air, shattering it. A pulse of energy spread outwards as the shards of the circle vanished, and the meteorite disappeared. Both of them landed behind Caius, who said "Impressive." They both readjusted their grip on their weapons, and as one said "Save it."

All three of them spun around, Lightning and Deiru's blades clashing against Caius's. Without the spell Caius cast, the floating rocks began to break apart and fall to the ground. Atop the main one however Lightning stabbed at him and he dodged the blow. Deiru's sword burst into flames and he swung down, just barely missing and creating a blast of fire to spread across the ground. He pulled his sword out and swung again, but Caius knocked his sword sway and caught Lightning's. "Damn you," she muttered, and Deiru added "Bastard." He chuckled before moving her sword to point at his heart, which pulsed with a red light.

"Enough. Let's end this," he said. Both Deiru and Lightning gasped, pulling back while Lightning said "That glow...!" Caius's eye glowed red, and he called "Cast your shadow over all, wings of night!" His held his sword in front of him and the energy blasted outwards, sending the two of them back while a sphere of dark smoke grew and swirled in the air. Within a pair of red eye glowed, and the smoke parted to reveal that Caius had transformed into Chaos Bahamut. He flew forward and swung at Lightning, who dodged as the rock she was on was shattered. While she was in the air he rose up, slamming into her with one hand. Lightning blocked the hand and pushed back with all her might, but before Caius could use the other Deiru blocked that one.

Caius roared and moved his hands in an X, slashing them both and sending them through the air, unconscious.

xxx

(Point of View Change: Deiru)

As I flew through the air I awoke, turning around and spreading my arms while beside me Light did the same. "Odin!" she called and I yelled "Shiva!" Odin in the form of a horse and the Shiva Sisters combined into a motorcycle rode forward, and we both mounted our respective rides, riding along the beach. Caius flew forward and roared, flying next to us. "Forgotten time, be reborn!" Lightning called, unleashing a double blast of Lightning Storm. "Lost memories, shine with power!" I chanted, swinging Indomitus and using Energy Arc, sending out three blue-white waves of power through the air at Caius. He fell back from the attack but responded by casting Ignis.

A ball of blue flame exploded in front of us, but Lighting urged out to leap over it while I drove around the blast. I pointed my sword at Caius and used Fury, sending out a barrage of multi-elemental spells while Lightning used Snipe. The volley of spells barely affected him, and he cast Inferno, sending a wave of fireballs at us. "Nice try!" I called, revving my rides engine and using Icicle Ramp to block the fireballs. Lightning used Lightning Storm again and Caius buckled from the force of the blow. He roared in anger and flew forward, slashing at us angrily.

"Not kidding around, huh?" Lightning asked, and I nodded in agreement. He flew forward and used Umbral Vise, his hands glowing with power before he slammed them together, hitting us with the energy. Lightning called "Be my shield!" and used Ullr's Shield, restoring her health and bestowing Protect and Shell. "Give me strength!" I said, and cast Salvation. For a second I was wrapped in a milky white light, before it faded and I was completely healed. Lightning pointed her gunblade at Caius and fired Snipe, while I used Energy Arc again.

The combined assault sent him flying, and he changed into Gestalt Form before flying in front of us. He fired Pulsar Burst and Lightning and I rode out of the way, moving back into the empty city. Lightning put away her gunblade and drew Zantetsuken, splitting the one blade into two. I smiled and raised my left hand, the sword Diluculum appearing in it. It was a black and gold copy of Indomitus, burning with flames of the same color. "Come on, then," Lightning challenged, and Caius flew up to her. He used Obliterating Breath to try and knock her away, but she jumped and spun in the air, slashing his chest so hard he reeled back from the assault. He flew towards me and fired Ignis, but spun in a circle and pointed both my sword at him, calling "Volley of Ruin!"

Over a dozen blasts of energy shot at him, and each one alone dealt a significant punch. He flew away and out of sight, and Lightning looked at me. "What's he up to?" she asked. I shrugged and kept going forward, but once we reached the corner he appeared from around it, and we gasped in shock as he unleashed Megaflare.

xxx

Well, here's the first chapter to Threads Connected; I hope you enjoyed it, for more it soon to come!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.2 Separation

Lightning and I were helpless to watch as Caius, in the form of Chaos Bahamut, appeared from around the corner of the building and unleashed Megaflare. We both gasped, and the small orb of blue-white fire exploded in a blast that instantly consumed the entire building we were on top of, turning the near cathedral-sized complex into rubble as the energy blasted outwards. Lightning and I should have been turned into ash from the light and heat, but Odin and the Shiva Sisters blocked the blast and grabbed us, jumping away and leaping out of the blast radius onto the ledge of a nearby smaller temple.

The three Eidolons lowered us down, and once we were standing upright they knelt before us, fading away into a green and blue light as they returned to their eidoliths. I bowed and silently thanked them for their sacrifice, but just as I did Caius appeared before us and lowered down, smiling. I stood back up and readjusted my grip on Indomitus, while Lightning moved into a battle pose and said "Right." He stabbed his sword into the ground and a circle of energy appeared around him, his eye glowing red. "Let's not waste time," he said, launching a blast of energy at us.

It split into two right before it hit, forcing both of us to block. The sphere pushed at me with the force of a rampaging bull, and I pushed with all my strength to deflect it. Bullets fired from Lightning's gunblade as she tried to push hers back as well, and with one last shove we sent the blasts back at Caius. He was sent flying, crashing through a series of wall before stopping. He tried to stand up, but Lightning jumped up and sent a trio of the same spells he cast at us straight at him. The resulting detonation sent out a wave of pure energy, enough to shatter the metal rings of the temple above him and causing rubble to begin raining down.

Caius stood and chuckled, saying "The goddess made a wise choice." A piece of metal the size of warehouse was about to fall on him when he called "Powers of chaos, bend to my will!" All the metal of pieces of the building froze, Caius's power having nullified gravity itself to stop their fall. He leaped into the air we chased after him, stopping when he stood on a floating sheet of metal. "Keeping up?" he asked. From this angle he was standing almost upside down, various pipes and other machinery floating about and spinning through the air.

"So you want to destroy everything?" Lightning asked. "Oblivion is the fate of all things," he replied, and I glared at him. "Everything, huh? You know, everything includes you!" I called, jumping forward and swinging Indomitus. We both swung at him and he blocked, moving from side to side and trying to respond with hits of his own. We were equally matched, for every hit he blocked or landed we responded in kind. He jumped back against a wall before using it to spring himself at us, and we blocked the attack just in time.

Lightning was about to change her blade to gun form when he flipped behind her and swung, and I pushed her out of the way before countering the attack. Caius flew back and caught himself against a floating part of a wall, standing. "I must thank you. In these final moments I have met my finest opponents," he declared. Behind him a metal plank flipped over, revealing Lightning and I standing there. We jumped at him and Lightning brought her gunblade around from the side, calling "You're finished, Caius!" "Time for you to die!" I said, bringing my sword down in an overhead blow.

He spun around and tried to block us but failed, and Lightning sent him back before I slammed the flat of my blade against his chest. He fell down straight through the air, and he stood on the bottom of building ledge, charging up power for another blast of energy. I smiled. "We're done," Lightning said, and while she cast Gravity I fired Ruinga. "You're done!" she called, and he replied "Not today!" and sent his own attack at us. My Ruinga spell hit it and the two pushed against each other, but when Lightning cast Ruinga all nearby rubble was sucked towards him and crushed him instantly.

His spell faded and mine shot forward, hitting the pile he was under and exploded. The part of the ledge he was standing on collapsed, and he fell spread-eagled on the ground below. Now that he was down the spell he cast was undone, and the all the pieces of metal and stonework that had been floating in the air fell down, some as large as buildings and all on top of him. Massive clouds of dust rose into the air and lightning and I observed the destruction from above. I smiled; good riddance to him.

Just then a light shined from above the temple, and we both turned in surprise. "What the-?" I began, and Lightning finished "Etro's Gate?" Said portal above the main temple glowed bright, signaling that someone was passing through. I was confused; that only happened when someone dies, and the person that fell through was definitely alive. Then it clicked, and Lightning said "Of course, the one from the vision."

The person was a young man with shoulder-length brown hair and a lean, muscular build. He wore a black V-neck with tribal patterns and a pair of angel's on his back, along with a simple pendant. A leather bracer was on his left arm, with a ring on his right and a cord wrapped around his right arm. His legs were covered by large blue sirwal-style pants with decorated hems and low-cut, sandal-like leather boots. A green pouch and hunter's knife were attached the back of his belt, which was adorned with small lavender ties made of cloth. I looked at Lightning and asked "We know his name, don't we?" She nodded, and as one we said "Noel Kreiss."

At the mention of his name Noel's eyes opened, which turned out to be blue. Lightning and I gasped, suddenly realizing how high above the ground he was, and summoned a pair of eidoliths before leaping off the edge of the building, shattering them. While Lightning summoned Bahamut I called my Eidolon Regnuma in her Gestalt Form. Black mist enveloped the top half of my body, solidifying into another suit of armor. It was black and ran with an oily sheen of colors, a pair of great, large metallic wings having sprouted out the back.

We flew towards Noel, who began flipping through the air as he continued falling. Behind us the rubble shook, before it was sent flying as Caius, in the form of Chaos Bahamut, rose up and roared. Lightning was caught by her Bahamut and flew towards Noel, while I flew next to, metal wings beating. He saw us and said "What in the…?" She extended her and he his, and for a second time seemed to slow down before she caught him. "Nice catch, love!" I called, and she smiled at me before looking forward. Once he was seated behind her Noel asked "Where am I?"

"Valhalla," we replied, and he gasped. "You prayed for a miracle, and that brought you here. Or am I wrong?" Lightning asked. "How did you know?!" he asked her. I smiled. "From Valhalla, we can see everything," I said simply. "But… who are you?" he asked. Light responded "Lightning," while I flew beside them and gave a mock-salute. "Deiru Tamashi, nice to meet you." Caius caught up with us and Lightning stood on top of her Bahamut, saying "Time for a real fight!" Still smiling, I readjusted my grip on Indomitus and Diluculum and nodded.

Lightning waved her sword and cast Focused Bolts while I flipped over and pointed both my blades at Caius, calling "Firesnow!" My sword were covered in a sheen of ice before catching fire, and the ice shattered before countless razor-sharp shards fired at Caius, each shard cocooned in fire despite being frozen. Caius corkscrewed through the air and dodged the rain of shards, but he didn't dodge the bolts of Lightning that Light sent after him. He growled and used Pulsar Burst. A dozen missiles of energy were sent at us, and Bahamut and I swerved through the air to dodge.

Noel shouted and gripped his seat tighter, and I chuckled. Aerial battle was not his forte, I guessed. Caius used Inferno and made a series of fireballs exploded around me, and I grunted as the heat seared my arm through both my sets of armor. I held my swords over my head and called "Energy Wave!" The point where they met glowed bright with energy, which I contained for as long as possible before slashing at Caius, sending an orb of power straight at him.

The moment it hit him it exploded, creating a detonation that consumed him as the air around him turned to pure heat. When it faded Chaos Bahamut turned back into a regular form, his hand holding twin orbs of energy. "Look out! Here it comes!" Noel called, and we shot forward enough to dodge the Umbral Vise. "What now?" he asked, and Lightning replied "Gonna get worse!" We both cast Graviton Mines, and eight huge orbs flew at Caius. Once they got near they exploded, prompting him to roar in anger and cast Megaflare.

The blast nearly knocked Noel off of Bahamut and almost caused me to crash into them. Lightning and I held up our swords and as one called "War's Benediction!" Both our bodies glowed with a silver-gold light, the spell restoring our health and bestowing Haste. With our speed increased Bahamut flew faster, getting farther away from Caius and dodging Pulsar Burst. Noel witnessed our power and asked "are the two of you gods or something?" Lightning smiled. "I never said I was a goddess." "Me neither," I added.

Caius flew forward and tried to use Umbral Vise again, but I flew in front of Lightning and blocked the attack. For a second both Caius and pushed against each other, until he grunted and flew back, opting instead to blast me with another Megaflare. The sphere exploded right in front of me and sent me through the air, armor burnt and almost melted from the intensity of the blast. "Deiru!" Lightning called, flying forward to try and catch me. I caught my balance just before I crashed and grabbed a bar hanging from the side of the temple.

Spinning myself around it, I threw myself off the edge of the temple and flew forward. "I'm fine; just a little warm," I told her, wiping a streak of soot off my arm plate. She sighed in relief, but then her expression angered and she glared back at Caius. "You know what? I think it's time we ended this," she said. I nodded and asked "You thinking what I'm thinking?" She nodded. I pressed Indomitus and Diluculum together and pushed, fusing the blades together until only Indomitus remained, only doubled in power.

"Let's go!" I called, and spun it in my hand. Silver energy trailed behind it, and Lightning's gunblade charged with the same power, only golden. "Sun and moon, come together as one and annihilate our foes! Solar Flare!" we called, and we both turned and threw our swords at Caius. They sped towards him with the speed of bullets, puncturing his chest. The very fabric of reality around him seemed to press into itself before expanding, accompanied by an explosion that rivaled those of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Caius was sent through the air like a cork out of bottle, crashing into the Sea of Chaos and disappearing beneath the waves. Bahamut and I flew down and landed on the edge of the temple, both the Eidolon and my armor disappearing. Lightning dismissed her gunblade while I put Indomitus on my back, scanning the area for any sight of Caius. "How do we fight him?" Noel asked. "This not your battle. There's something else I need you to do," she replied. "What?" he questioned. Lightning looked at him. "Bring my sister to me. Her name is Serah," he requested.

Surprised but obeying, he said "Okay…" while following her to the edge. Below a beautiful craftwork of gold and other metals spun and pulsed with power. "You'll need to use the portal. Your time-gazing friend should have told you how it works," she instructed. He looked down. "That's a gate? But why me?" he asked. She looked at him. "Because you're the only one who can," she said. He looked at her, and she explained "You crossed the Void and made it to Valhalla. You can find Serah, and together you can change the future."

"Wait… I can change the future?" he asked, hardly able to believe it. She nodded and said "Yes," before holding up her hand. Ball of a confetti-like light rose into the air, before it faded to reveal a moogle. It looked the typical way a moogle did; only slightly larger than my head, white body with little arms, a pair of bat wings, red button nose, and a crystal attached to the top of its head. "Kupo!" the moogle called, flashing and turning into a mechanical bow that Noel hurriedly caught. "A good luck charm. Give him to Serah," she said. He looked at it, before hefting the bow over his shoulder and saying "You got it. I'll track her down." She nodded, before looking at me. "And Deiru, I want you to go with him." I blinked, waiting a moment before saying "What?"

She moved closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. "You know the events of timeline as well as I do; you know how this ends. But if you travel with them, you can find a way to change things, and make a better future for us all," she said. "Wha- But- No! Lightning, I love you more than anything in the entire world. And I will _not_ abandon you." "Please Deiru, do this for me. Noel won't be able to bring Serah here on his own. He'll need your help," she pleaded. I was about to argue further when I saw that her eyes were huge, magnified by unshed tears. I stopped; realizing that she didn't want me to go either. Being apart hurt us so much that it an almost physical pain, and every moment we were we would worry whether the other was alive and well.

But we had to do this; it was the only way to make sure that things would turn out okay. So I looked at her for a long moment, before willing the metal glove on my right to disappear and cupping her cheek, placing my lips against hers. Instantly her eyes fluttered shut and she kissed back, wrapping her arms around my neck. Noel made a sound of awkwardness and rubbed the back of his head, but the two of us were too enraptured to care. I held her tightly against me, unwilling to let go but knowing that eventually I would have to. After maybe a full minute- or hour, I didn't really know or care- we pulled apart and I wiped a tear away from her cheek with my thumb.

"Watch over us. And when the time comes, I'll watch over you," I vowed. She nodded, smiling sadly and giving me one last peck on the lips. The moment she did however, the sky darkened and we looked around. "What's happening?" Noel asked, but then we heard Caius called "Enjoying your little chat?" We looked to see him appearing from a cloud of smoke above us, smirking. "Caius?!" Noel called, half-shocked and half-enraged. Both Lightning and I re-drew our weapons, and he raised his hand into the air before shouting. The same meteorite spell from before appeared, heading down straight for us.

Lightning ran in front of us and said "Get to the gate! I'm counting on you two!" "Okay!" Noel called, and I reluctantly jumped over the edge with him. Caius jumped into the air and transformed into Chaos Bahamut, flying at us and forcing us to duck. Above the meteorite broke through the summoning circle and drew nearer, ready to crash. "Not this again," Lightning said, summoning her eidolith and jumping into the air. She shattered it and her Eidolon emerged, grabbing her hand. "Odin! Do it!" she called, and the great warrior used his inhumane strength to throw Lightning upwards.

We landed on the edge of the building and Noel looked up, starting and saying "What the-?" Lightning placed her shield in front of her and smashed into the meteorite, yelling in defiance and courage. As she went through she said "Deiru, Serah." "Lightning," Noel and I said, but then realized that we were in the direct path of the meteor. "Gotta go!" Noel called, and I said "Right!" We ran to the edge and jumped off, heading for the gate. The meteor kept falling, and it almost caught up to us. Noel and I yelled and reached out, he tips of our fingers touching the edge of the gate just in time. Light flashed and we went through, just as the meteorite crashed down.

_My hopes go with you, Deiru, and with you, Noel Kreiss. Become arrows through time, and speed your way to Serah. Be there for her, because… I no longer can._

xxx

And so the adventure begins! What will happen next chapter? Will Deiru and Noel find Serah? And what will happen when they do? Find out next chapter!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.3 Meeting

**Episode 1**

**A World Without Cocoon**

**New Bodhum 003 AF**

_Time flows without pause. In a world where I no longer exist the future is about to change._

In the sky above Pulse, a huge meteor fell through the sky.

_Serah, the truth still survives. But only you remember _it.

In her home on Gran Pulse, young Serah Farron stirred about in her bed as she dreamed. Images flashed- Lightning and Deiru fighting Caius, the same three with their swords locked. "Lightning..." she murmured. A large meteorite, Lightning crashing into it. Serah gasped, her eyes opening. "She was fighting. I guess it was... just a dream," she said. The meteor grew closer, and light flashed around her as her clothing changed. "Such a strange dream..." she muttered, her eyes closing. Then the meteor landed, accompanied by large explosion. Serah bolted awake and sat up the edge of her bed. "What? What was that?" she asked.

It was then that she noticed her change in outfit, and stood to examine it. It was a revealing, form-fitting white, red-pink, and gold dress made of a white top, pink sections on the front and back connecting it to a skirt over black shorts, cut-out sides at the waist, and criss-crossing pink straps on the sides of her torso and over her shoulders. She retained her engagement necklace and earrings, and on her right hip is a pouch that hangs from her waist. Serah wore pink and black thigh-high leggings and purple ankle boots, a pink choker, short pink sleeves under gray gloves, and a gold armband on each arm. To finish it off, one of the armbands was shaped like a bird and was on the same spot where her l'Cie brand used to be.

"Where did these clothes come from?" she wondered, before hearing the sounds of people shouting and gunfire from outside. "What's happening out there?" she asked, waking out. "Is this a dream? These clothes aren't even mine. I must still be asleep. Lightning... Lightning is gone," she kept telling herself. Just as she stepped out of the house however, there was a flash of light and the landscape changed utterly, becoming gray and desolate, barren of life. "What the-?" she asked, looking around. All the villagers had gone, and absolutely nothing was left alive.

Serah started forward, muttering "What is this place? Could I still be dreaming? No more... I can't take this. Wake up. I just have to wake up!" She fell to her knees, and another flash occurred. The village and all inhabitants returned, but they were frozen. Gadot was fixed in mid-shout, Yuj and Maqui fired at a Rift Beast that had leaped into the air. None of them moved for a second, and the Eye of Etro gleamed over Serah's eyes. She blinked and it faded, time returning to normal. A Rift Beast fell beside her while the villagers kept firing, and Serah called "Gadot!"

He looked at her and said "Serah! Come on!" while Maqui and Yuj said "Everyone, this way!" They began retreating back, but a dark hole appeared and a huge monster, one with stone-like skin and giant nails imbedded in its head, reached its arm and head through, roaring. "Whoa! What is _that_?" Maqui asked. The others stopped, and Gadot roared in rage before pointing his gun at the beast, letting loose and yelling "take that!" Serah went to join them, but another Rift Beast materialized in front of her wing, wings beating. "No. Please no..." she said, stepping back and tripping over a fallen drone.

The Rift Beast flew towards her and she lifted her arm, calling "Lightning! Help me!" Before it could hurt her though it was knocked back not by Lightning, but by Lebreau. She ran towards Serah and shouted, pelting the monster with shotgun blasts until it fell to the ground. Lebreau grabbed Serah's rm and said "Get ahold of yourself! Lightning can't protect you anymore!" She glanced at the other monsters before saying "You have to look out for yourself now, you hear me? Your sister's dead. She can't help you!" Then she was sent flying by another monster, and Serah called "Lebreau!"

It was then that Noel fired several shot from the bow he had been given, aiming all for the monsters and destroying them. "You want her?" he called, and Serah looked up to us standing on top of a building. "Then you're gonna have to go through us!" I called, and we both leaped off. The wind rushed past our ears until we landed, and Noel walked over. "Get up, Serah," he urged her. "You were in dream. I saw you!" she remarked, before she looked at me and her eyes widened. "What the-? Deiru?!" she nearly yelled. I smiled. "Hey Serah, long time, no see!" Like Serah I had new clothes, but not the divine armor I had in Valhalla. I had on my black leather trench coat from my last journey, only this time it came with a hood. Beneath was a solid white T-shirt with a golden Eye of Etro over my heart, and as usual I had my eyepatch. On my hands were black fingerless gloves with small pitch-black feathers attached to the wrists, while on my lower half I wore black pants, black leather dress shoes and a belt with the same feathers as my gloves, only larger.

I took the bow from Noel and handed it to her. "Can you still fight?" I asked. She grasped it and pulled herself up, saying "If I have to." Noel smirked. "You're gonna have to," he said, pulling his swords off his back. One was large and built to look like metal flames, while the other was a short stabbing sword. "One more thing..." he added, pulling the smaller sword out of its sheath on the larger one. "Don't ever lay down and wait to die!" he called. I nodded and pulled off Indomitus, while Serah gripped the bow and fired an arrow of energy. The beast, a Mononekton, fell back from the hit and Noel slashed at it, giving it a large cut across the front. Its smaller ally, a Nekton, ran forward and slashed at him, but I cast Fire and send him through the air.

Noel stabbed his smaller sword into the beast and it struggled for a second, before falling to the ground. Once those two were gone we kept moving, heading for the other hostiles and targeting them. Gadot and two civilians were surrounded by thee Mononektons and two Nektons, so we went straight for them. "Make way!" I called, running forward and bring my sword around in a wide sweeping arc. The civilians moved out the way and my sword hit one Mononekton in the front, going halfway through before I pulled it back out. Gadot fired a trio of bullets into the wound and it fell.

The sight of one of its comrades dying angered the monsters, and while the Nektons ran forward and slashed at Gadot and the others the Mononektons cast Ruin at Noel and Serah. Shouted grunted from the spell but responded in kind, hitting one of them with a pair of Ruins before firing her bow. It was knocked off balance from the shot, and she cast Fire, sending a ball of flame straight it. The ball exploded once it made impact, and the beast made a weak keen before falling. Gadot pointed his gun at a Nekton and fired, covering a with so many bullet holes it looked like Swiss cheese.

Then the two civilians freaked and ran off, only for the Mononekton to stop them. They fumbled with their weapons, and I sighed before casting Thundara. Bolts of electricity rained down and blasted the monster, who twitched and jerked from the voltage. That gave time for the two civilians to stop fumbling their weapons, and they planted a bullet in its side. Now all that was left were two Nektons, which Noel and Serah defeated with a pair of Fire spells.

Now that they weren't surrounded Gadot and the others went to help the rest of the villages, and I spotted Maqui being pushed against the side of a house by two Nektons. "Come on!" he said, trying aim but they were moving too fast. "Maqui, duck!" Serah yelled, pulling back her bow. He did, and she fired an arrow straight at one of the Nektons, piercing it through the chest and pinning it to the wall. It screeched and tried to escape, wriggling its legs and shaking from side to side. But the arrow of energy wouldn't budge, and Maqui shot it before turning and finishing off the other.

Now all that was left were four Mononektons and five Nektons, and with none of the other villagers occupied the ones fighting them had back-up. Serah, Noel and I ran forward and I pointed my sword at them, calling "Volley of Ruin!" Multi-elemental spells fired from my blade and hit them, such as an ice-Thundara or a wind-Firaga. Two of the Nekton fell instantly, a third added to that total when Yuj shot it. The other villagers all aimed their guns at the Mononektons, while the last two Nektons ran for us. "Game over!" Noel called, jumping up and stabbing both his sword into one of them, while Serah cast Ruin and destroyed the other.

Now that all the monsters were gone there was silence, until Gadot called for the villagers to follow him and they headed for the edge of the village. Noel picked up Lebreau and carried her to the grass beside Serah's house, gently laying her down. Serah looked at all the fallen drones and monsters, until Maqui said "Hey Serah, are you okay?" She blinked and looked t him, nodding. "Yeah." "Maqui!" Yuj called, and he said "Gotta go!" "Okay," Serah replied. He ran off to join the others, and Gadot called "Alright everyone, listen up. The meteorite hit over there. We're gonna check it out." "Team Yuj, ready to roll," Yuj announced.

"Oh and careful, that area's crawling with monsters," Maqui added. "So stay close. C'mon!" Gadot called, running out of New Bodhum. The others nodded in assent and followed, while Serah knelt beside us and looked at Lebreau. "You're okay," she said in relief. "She took a hit, but she's gonna be fine. She just needs some rest," Noel told her. "Thank goodness," Serah said, and stood when she saw Noel walking off. "And thank you... whoever you are." He smiled. "Noel. Noel Kreiss," he said simply. "And of course you already know my name," I added, bowing elegantly. "About that, where have you been Deiru? Everyone thought you were dead. You've been gone for three years!" she told me, nearly shouting the last part.

I rubbed my head, the feathers attached to my glove swaying slightly in the breeze. "It's kind of a long story," I admitted. "The monsters are gone, so we have time. Tell me," she said, but before I could Noel interjected. "Oh, before I forget, it wasn't just us. You should probably thank this little guy, too," he said, tapping the bow. Serah looked at confusedly, before it glowed and rose out of her hand, spinning in the air. There was a puff of smoke and it vanished while Mog, the moogle Lightning had given, shot into the air. "Ta-da! Kupo!" he said. Serah smiled. "Wow. Is that a toy moogle?" she asked. Mog shook his head and she tapped him in the stomach, giggling.

"He's supposed to be your good luck charm. Your sister gave him to me," Noel told her, and I nodded. At that her smiled faded, and she caught Mog before running towards us. "Wait, you know Lightning?!" she asked. He and I both nodded. "Yeah, she's the one who told us to come here," Noel said, and I added "And the love of my life." "Where did you see her? Wait... was it Valhalla?" she asked, while she held Mog against her chest he was calling "Kupo!" in protest. "Yeah, how did you guess?" Noel asked. Her gripped lessened, and Mog suddenly fell the ground before he flew back up.

"I saw it in dream. I saw my sister. She gave you the moogle," Serah said, thinking back. "Then the meteorite came..." she began, and I finished "And dragged us here along with it." "Do you mean, you actually rode here on that meteorite?" she asked. "Maybe, I don't know. Damned if I can remember. Why don;t we and check it out?" Noel suggested. "Sounds good to me," I said, and Serah said "Okay."

xxx

Ooh, Serah has made her entry! But now that this ragtag trio is together, will they be able to get through the monsters and reach the meteorite?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

**Notice:** From now on I have increased my goal for Threads Connected to a "3000-words-per-chapter" quota, and intend to do so with the rest of the story. But while the updates will no longer occur on solely weekends, this increase in quota will cause updates to occur at a slightly slower pace. But I promise you it will be worth it, so stay tuned!

Ch.4 Dangerous Wildlife

Once we had decided to go look for the meteor Noel immediately ran ahead, leaving the two of us to follow. "Noel, is that all you're going to tell me? Your name? Like, where do you come from, what do you do?" Serah asked. "I'm a hunter," he replied. "I feel like an interrogator. Do you mind me asking?" she inquired, and he said "Shoot." "Well then, tell me about Valhalla," she told him. Noel rubbed the back of his head. "I really don't know much about it. It's not like I lived there," he said. I stepped forward and said "I can answer that one. Valhalla is another world that exists parallel to this one. Some say it lies at the end of time, others call it the resting place of a goddess, and others even believe it to be the land of the dead."

"The dead? Does that mean Lightning is out of my reach for good?" Serah muttered to herself. I heard it and placed my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry; she's the last thing from gone. I'm here too, aren't I?" I said. She looked up at me and smiled, nodding. We kept going and ran into a Pulsework Soldier, who lumbered in front of us and barred the path. Sighing, I pulled Indomitus off my back and ran forward, while Serah and Noel drew weapons of their own. I slashed my sword across its front and struck sparks, the metal of my blade creating hardly a scratch against the machine. It ran towards Serah and spun its top half around, slamming its arm into her stomach.

"Oh no you don't!" Noel said, running forward and using Flamestrike. His sword was covered in flames, making the metallic ones look real, and he slammed it against the Soldier. It shuddered from the heat and I switched to magic, casting a pair of Thunder spell and following it up with Thundara. Bolts of lightning shot down and blasted the machine, and it whirred before the top half rose into air, revealing the monster's very vulnerable core. Serah instantly pulled back her bow and fired; shooting an arrow that flew forward and pierced it straight in the center.

The crystal that was the source of the monster's power cracked, and Noel knocked it right out of its holding place with a sharp thrust of his stabbing sword. The beast stopped struggling and went limp, its head and arm lowering. Smiling, I said "and that takes care of that," before stomping on the knocked-out crystal and shattering it with my shoe. We kept going on the path to the meteor, when suddenly Noel stopped, his gaze transfixed on Cocoon. "Wow…" he said in awe, and Serah asked "Hmm? What's up, Noel?" "I… I just didn't think it would be that beautiful. Cocoon, I mean. It's just like in the legend," he said quietly. I nodded, Cocoon did indeed look beautiful.

The reshaped crystal from when Fang and Vanille creating the pillar was arranged beautifully, turned blue and glowing by the shining moonlight. Besides Lightning, I had never seen anything look so magnificent. Then again, maybe it was just that I hadn't seen it for three years. Then Serah asked a question that snapped me out of my thoughts. "What do you mean by 'in the legend'?" she asked. "The legend about Cocoon and how it was held up in the sky by a crystal pillar. Oh, we all knew the story," he told her. "Seems strange to call it a legend. It's only been three years," she remarked.

I chuckled humorlessly; it was only three to her and the other villagers. Speaking of the villagers, I spotted Gadot a short distance ahead. I pulled up my hood and said "Hey, Serah? Could you do me a favor and not tell anything of the others that I'm me yet?" She frowned and looked at me, asking "How come?" "Remember, I'm not even supposed to be here. And if anything of the villagers recognizes me before we reach the meteor, it might raise a few eyebrows," I explained.

Although she didn't like it, Serah nodded and said "Okay." It was a good thing to, because rather than wait until we reached him Gadot walked up to us. "Serah! Still in one piece? We're seeing lots of unfriendly critters around that meteorite…" he began, before he noticed us. "Oho… Who're they?" She moved beside us and said "Oh. This is Noel and… um…" "Ihsamat. Ishamat Uried," I said, extending my hand. He shook it, and Serah added "They helped me and Lebreau out a tight spot." "Is that right?" he asked, walking forward until he towered over Noel. If he did the same to me, even despite my height he still would have been half a head taller than me.

"I'm Gadot," he said, and Noel replied "Okay, take it easy, big guy. I am not here to make trouble for anyone." "Hmph, you better not. Anything happens to Serah, and the boss'll string your carcass out to dry," he said. I looked at Noel, wondering how he would respond. He got up close right back, asking "The boss? Who's that?" Gadot glared at him. "He ain't here right now!" he yelled, before running off. I looked at him and chuckled, shaking my head. Gadot hadn't changed one bit. We tried to follow him, but were stopped by a trio of Spicecillian. They croaked and ran forward, jumping into the air and knocking their tails into us. The blow dealt little damage, and I responded by freezing one with Blizzara.

Noel ran at one and tried to slash at it, and but it jumped out of the way and did a back-flip, hitting him in the chest with his tail. He fell back, slightly off-balance, and the other two took the chance to break out of the ice and gain up on him. "Noel!" Serah called, firing a Ruin spell to try and distract the beasts. It worked, and while they went after her Noel hurriedly drank a Potion. "Nice try!" I said, and ran forward to kick one in the side. It fell back slightly and glared at me, and I took the opportunity to slam the flat of Indomitus down on its head. The beast's smaller legs buckled beneath it, falling down while Serah shot a second in the side.

Noel tried to slash at the third one again, and this time he succeeded and dragged his larger sword across its back. All three of the monsters fell, and I got rid of the scraps with Firaga. Now that there was no monsters blocking the way we kept going, but this time we were stopped not by monsters, but by a twist in reality itself. The air was everything in it was blurred and distorted in a huge sphere, and when we walked through the ground kept shifting and moving from side to side. "Huh? What's going on here?" Noel asked, and Serah added "Am I dreaming?"

"Neither of you are dreaming; space-time itself is being distorted. The meteorite is causing it. And only once we reach it will this be undone," I told them. "Well, then let's get going!" Serah said, and we both nodded. We ran out of the distorted area and reality around us returned to normal. Not far ahead was Yuj, who we ran into. "Oh, hey Yuj," Serah said. "Hey. So, these are the famous Noel and Ishamat, huh?" "Guess word travels fast," Noel commented. "No kidding," I agreed. "Lebreau told me how you helped her out. Although for some reason, she thought Serah called you 'Deiru'," he told us.

My eyes widened, and I thought of something to say to get rid of any potential suspicion. But it turns out I didn't need to, because he just shrugged and said "Oh well, you couldn't be him anyway. I'm Yuj. Nice to meet you." It took all my strength not to sigh in relief, and nodded when Noel said "Hey, likewise." "So what up's with the new stylin' threads, Serah? Not exactly a 'dress up and hit the town' kind of occasion," he pointed out. Serah was silent for a moment, before saying "Well to be honest, I don't even remember putting them on." "Oh, I know that feeling! Hard to resist trying on a new outfit!

"Okay, I gotta get going. See you guys later," he said, running off. Serah waved, saying "Bye." Once he was gone we kept going, only to receive our third monster diversion. What stopped us was not one, not two, but three Gorgonopsids. Without even speaking we each targeted a separate one, and all three of them used War Cry to bestow themselves with Bravery and Vigilance. I brought my sword down from overhead and attacked, but the canine beast lunged out the way and my sword bit deep into the ground. It ran back towards me and snarled, scratching at my arm while I tried to pull my sword out.

The wound wasn't deep, but stung furiously and made me temporarily forget about my sword. "Eat ice!" I called, and cast Blizzaga. Razor-pointed shards of ice erupted from the ground, catching the Gorgonopsid in the side and lifting it into the air. Behind me the second Gorgonopsids rammed into head into Serah's midsection before jerking its head up, sending her into the air. Noel would have helped, but just then his own target roared and took a swipe, forcing him to jump back to dodge. I glared at my own enemy, who had gotten itself off the ice spike, feeling my strength rise within me.

The feathers on the edge of my belt and gloves shook as a current of air swirled around me, before I called "Aeroga!" and send an blast of air at the monster. The blast swiftly turned into a full-blown tornado, which picked up the Gorgonopsid along with any nearby rock and tree branches. It roared and struggled as the air tossed it around and around, while the other two Gorgonopsids dug their claws into the ground to avoid being pulled in as well. The stones cut into the monster's skin and it was repeatedly whacked in the face by the branches. One particularly vicious hit ended with a branch almost the exact size and shape of a pencil jammed up one of its nostrils.

The twister faded and the Gorgonopsid fell to the ground, limping from the cuts along its body. "This is it!" I called, and vaulting myself towards the beast while corkscrewing through the air, turning my sword into a deadly steel blur. The result was a deep gashing cut that nearly showed the ribs of the beast, and it made a weak growl before falling to the ground. The sight of their comrade falling convinced the other Gorgonopsids to run away, and they make a roar of vengeance before doing so. Now that there was no interference we kept going, all three of us hoping to not have to face any more monsters.

Rather than a monster, we noticed Maqui kneeling in front of a set of ancient plants, while right next to them were one that were barely starting to grow yet. "Weird… how did these plants grow so fast? I don't get it. Must be pockets of unstable time or something," he said to himself. "More meteorite phenomena?" Noel asked. Maqui stood and looked at him. "You got that right. Look at this stuff. Ever since that meteorite came down, we've been seeing all kinds of aberrations," he said. "Do you have any idea as to why?" I asked, making my voice sound deeper so even a kid as smart as him wouldn't guess things.

Luckily he didn't and said "Not the slightest clue. Some spots seemed to have sped forward centuries. And other parts haven't changed at all…" "So these areas are from different timelines. Realities blending together? Like two ages overlapping. That about right?" Noel asked. "Right! It's exactly like that!" Maqui replied. "So, is the moogle from another dimension too?" Serah asked. "Hmm. Well, I'd have to dismantle it to make sure…" he began.

"Kupokupo?!" Mog yelled. "I think he understood you," Noel said. "In any case, we can't go breaking Serah's good luck charm." "Kupo!" Mog said, nodding vigorously. I covered my face with my glove stifle a laugh, only the shaking of the feathers indicating any movement. Maqui went back to examining the plants, and after we left him this time we thankfully weren't attacked by monsters. I sighed in relief; we had made it past the others without revealing who I was, we had been spared a monster ambush, and the meteorite was just ahead. The only thing that could ruin this was-

Suddenly Noel called "Cocoon is gone!" and I looked up to see that it had. As if to answer my thoughts a huge hole in reality ripped open in front of us, the giant Gogmagog reaching out of it and roaring.

"-that," I finished aloud. Grunting angrily I re-pulled Indomitus off my back, the weight settling in my hands and calming me down. Noel drew both of his swords and Mog turned into Serah's bow, both of them taking up positions beside me. Just as we were about to attack though, the two Gorgonopsids from before ran up beside Gogmagog, almost appearing smug as a full-grown Ugallu slowly stepped forward as well. My eye widened and I just had enough time to say "Oh shit!" before they attacked. The Ugallu used Roar bestow itself with Bravery, Vigilance, and Haste.

The two Gorgonopsids ran straight for me, while Gogmagog cast Ruin at Noel and Serah. "There are too many of them! What do we do?" Noel called, dodging the spell and responding with fire. Before I could answer the Ugallu ran forward and used Virulent Breath, hitting us all with Poison and Curse. Instantly I dissolved into a fit of coughing, but managed to say "Just… get Gogmagog! I've got… the rest of 'em!" They were unsure, but nodded and did so; hurriedly drink a pair of Remedies before tossing me one. I drank it as quick as I could but only finished half, enough to get rid of the poison but not the curse, before one of the Gorgonopsids ran forward and snapped its teeth at me.

I jumped back and glared at the beast, throwing what was left of the Remedy straight at it. But rather than heal it like I thought it would, the beast yelped and pulled back, rubbing furiously as if I had dumped dirt and salt mixed together in its eyes. The other Gorgonopsid and the Ugallu glared at me, charging forward and slashing their respective claws. I dodged the attack and had a sudden idea, pulling out a Hi-Potion and lobbing it at the other one. It was smart enough and lunged out of the way, but when they bottle shattered against the ground and created a poll of green liquid for the Ugallu to step on it yelped and jerked back, its paw burnt like acid.

A spark of brilliance hit me, and I pulled out a bottle of rare Phoenix Blood while calling "Waterga!" A huge sphere of water appeared overhead and I threw the bottle into it, simultaneously releasing the spell. The sphere smashed down and smashed the bottle of Phoenix Blood, mixing it with the water before I called "Aeroga!" and creating a tornado right in the middle of the blood-laced water. The winds sucked the water up and turned the tornado into a hurricane, which I willed to move towards the beasts. Recognizing the Aeroga spell from before the two Gorgonopsids ran out of the way, but the mighty Ugallu was a second too late.

It roared in surprise and dug its claws into the ground, muscles bulging as it kept itself on the ground. But that made it a stationary target, and was thus easy for the hurricane to surround and envelope. The beast screeched and thrashed around, skin and fur singed away by the Phoenix Blood but unable to move without being sucked into the air. I held the twister there long past its usual expiration time, sustaining the spell with sheer force of will. The Gorgonopsids realized that unless they risked attacking me their pack leader was in trouble, and thus used War Cry to bestow Bravery and Vigilance before charging.

I was too focused on maintaining the spell around the Ugallu to notice, but that very much changed with both the monsters sunk their canine fangs into a respective leg. My eye bulged in pain and I cried out, pulled off my feet and onto my back by their feral tugging. I tried to get away but they bit harder, teeth sinking deeper into my leg. My mind momentarily blanked from the pain, but while only three years had passed since my disappearance in the world of Pulse, countless eons had gone by in Valhalla. And during that time I learned to turn my pain into strength.

Letting my emotions consume for me for a second, I balled my hand up into a fist and watched it pulse with energy. I slammed my fist into the ground and called "Quake!" while sending a current of pure electricity down my legs. It traveled through the Gorgonopsids' teeth and into the rest of their head, causing them to shriek and release me where they were immediately sent into the air by pillars of earth erupting from below. The Ugallu shared the same fate and was pelted with earth and stones, while I carefully cast Cure, Cura and Curaga over the bite marks in my legs. By the time I was done I was able to stand, albeit gingerly, and the monsters were stumbling about in a daze.

Beside me Noel and Serah both threw their weapons at the same time, piercing Gogmagog in the chest. He roared and dragged himself back into the hole in reality he had created to avoid further harm, the sudden suction of wind catching the Gorgonopsids off-balance and pulling them, along with the Ugallu, straight in. The hold closed and faded, and for a second I felt pity for the canine beasts. They were merely avenging one of their pack-mates, and now had been sucked into the Void Beyond because of it. Then I shook my head; maybe if I ever came across them on this journey I would tame like Serah eventually could.

Noel gave a sigh and put his swords away, prompting me to do the same while Mog turned back into his regular form. "Yes, we made it!" he said gladly, jumping down and heading for the meteor. "Wait up!" Serah called, and I smiled behind them. We had indeed.

xxx

Yay, the group has finally made it to the meteor, and soon the search for the artefact, and the beginning of the journey, will begin!

X-Ranger1, I hope this was long enough for you.

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I do not own FF XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.5 Search for the Artefact

The three of us, four if you included Mog, ran up to the meteorite. But once there though, a picture of a gray and desolate landscape appeared. "What is this place? Noel, do you know?" Serah asked. "Yeah..." he said quietly, his eye filled with a combination of sadness and regret. "Wait. What happened to Cocoon? It's not there," she pointed out. "That's because this is a different place in time," I said. She looked at me, and Noel nodded. "Yeah. That's the world I come from. In my world, Cocoon doesn't exist. By the time I was born, the sky was already empty," he said, before turning to Serah. "Tell me, how many years has it been? Since Ragnarok appeared and Cocoon fell?" he asked.

"Well, it's 3 AF, so that was three years ago," she told him. "For me, that was all 700 years in the past. I was born and raised in another time. 700 years in the future," he announced. My eyebrows raised. "700 years?!" I asked, incredulous. "Yes, I knew it. I knew you weren't world," Serah said. Noel laid his hand against the meteor. "I'm the last of humanity," he began, before we heard Gadot call "Hey!" We all turned to see Him, Yuj and Maqui approach. Noel grabbed Serah's hand. "Serah, I can take you there. We can find Lightning together. I know she wants to see you," he said quickly, before he was shoved away by Gadot. "You're full of it!" he yelled, while Maqui said "Yeah, that's impossible!" "Lightning and Deiru are gone, man!" Yuj said.

I raised en eyebrow. "Really? You're sure that Lightning and Deiru are gone?" I asked. They looked at me. "Of course we are! They've been dead for three years!" Gadot said angrily. Almost smirking, I brought my hands to my hood and pulled it off. They all gasped, and I said "Then how can I be here now?" "What- But you said your name was Ishamat!" Yuj called. I looked t him and smiled knowingly, until the penny dropped and Maqui called "Wait a minute! Ishamat Uried is just Deiru Tamashi spelled backwards!" "Correct," I said. Gadot stared at me for a second before letting Noel go, running towards me and grabbing the front of my shirt. "Wait a minute! How the hell can you still be alive?! You've been gone all this time, and you choose to show up now?! And if you're alive then where's Lightning?!" he demanded.

Serah laid her hand against his arm and softly said "Gadot..." He looked at her, then at me and let go, stomping away and grunting angrily. Now that that was done, Serah looked at the two of us. "Noel, Deiru, do you know where my sister is?" she asked. I smiled again. "We can show you," I said, and Noel took her hand. "Come with me," he said, and led her to the meteorite. He placed her hand against it, and the Eye of Etro glowed over the back of her hand while the meteorite vanished, revealing am otherworldly machine. In the center was a sphere of spinning energy, while around it a ring of metal spun dizzyingly. Pillars of gold and silver floated over it, curving around the sphere and holding it in place.

"Whoa, far out!" Maqui said in awe. "You see? It's a Time Gate," Noel announced. "What do you mean 'Time Gate'?" Gadot asked. "Just as it's called, it's a gate through time. Lightning is in a place beyond time called Valhalla. And Valhalla is on the side," I said. Serah looked at the gate, unable to tear her gaze away. I knew what she was feeling- here could the answer to all her doubts and dreams. Everyone thought that three years ago Lighting and I sacrificed ourselves. We turned into the crystal pillar that holds Cocoon over the surface of Pulse, and saved both worlds. Only Serah remembers us being there, smiling and seeing the new world with our own eyes.

On the broad plains of Pulse Lightning once celebrated Serah's marriage to Snow. But when Serah wasn't looking, we disappeared. Gone, as if we had never been there in the first place. I knew that wasn't the truth and so did she, but the others took longer to convince. Later back at Serah's home, Noel and I were explaining things to the others. "Listen, when different era overlap all kinds of crazy stuff happens. Object from different times get mixed up. If you want to open a gate and travel through time, you need to find one of those objects. They're called artefacts," Noel explained. "Artefacts?" Serah repeated. "The keys to the future ," I said, and she nodded.

Taking over, I explained "They're anachronisms, or things that don't belong in this time period. If we find one, we might be able to use it and open that gate. Then we can travel cross time and make it to Lightning," I said. I knew that Serah was still unsure, three years of uncertainty took its toll. Could Lighting really be alive and in Valhalla, waiting for her. My being here helped, but she wasn't sure if she could risk hoping again. She wanted to believe. The simple truth was, she wanted her sister back. Eventually, after Gadot continued shouting at the booth of us, that we all went to bed. So much happened though, I doubt anyone slept.

The next morning I found myself sitting at the edge of the dock in New Bodhum, kicking my feet and sending up droplets of water. Vaguely I could hear Serah wake up and walk about the house, greeting the others and talking. I stood and walked back, and she and Noel saw me. "To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm ready to believe all this. All this talk about artefacts and gates and time travel..." she said, trailing off. "It's confusing, that much is true. But the more time you spend around this insanity, the more normal it becomes," I said. She still looked unsure, and Noel said "Serah, there's still so much that I don't understand myself. Just ask, and I'll try to explain."

"Well, then how do we find an artefact? What does it even look like?" she asked. "They can be any size of shape. They simply have to be something that 'doesn't belong' in this era," he told her. "Let's take a look around," I suggested, and they nodded. The residents of the village were all walking around; save for the meteorite their lives had been completely unaffected. For a second I felt a pang of jealously; the last few moments hen I had a chance to really think about things, a peaceful life was one I wanted. Then again, I chose to stay in the world of Cocoon, despite being given the choice. If I wanted a quiet life, I gave that up in return for an exciting one.

I was snapped out my thoughts when Noel ran ahead of us, looking at a line of lettuce heads. "Oh, wow. You grow vegetables?" he asked in awe. "What, you mean you don't?" Serah asked. "The soil is barren. Nothing will grow at all. We have to survive by hunting; it's that or starve," he said. "Yesterday, you said you were the last of humanity. What did you mean?" Serah pressed. "Just what I said. When I was born, there were fewer people in the world than live in this village. After a while... I was the only one left," he told her. I looked at him. "How in the world did that happen?" I asked. "There were monster attacks, and illnesses... people die. But they all said the same thing before they passed on. 'The future is yours,'" he said.

"The future... That's a lot to hand to someone," I muttered. Suddenly the crystal on Mog's head started glowing, and he called "Kupo!" before flying off. "What the-? Where's he going?" Serah asked. "It could be that since Mog is from a place that exists outside of time, then he could also sense objects from other eras as well," I suggested. "You mean like an artefact?" Serah asked, and I nodded. Come on, then! Let's follow that moogle!" Noel said excitedly. We did, and found him floating by a tree with a cluster of rocks around it. On the one of the rocks wasn't an artefact, to my shock it was Lightning's survival knife. "What?" Serah gasped, and Noel asked "is that the artefact?" "This Lightning's knife. I keep in my room, but how did it get out here?"

xxx

_Three years ago..._

Serah walked beside Dajh, seeing the others all in front of them. "Hey, look there," she told Dajh, pointing. They both ran forward, and she called "Snow!" "Serah!" Snow called, catching her and laughing happily. Sazh and Dajh did the same, while Hope watched them. "C'mon!" Snow said, and Serah replied "Okay!" They ran up to Lightning... only for her to not be there. Serah looked troubled, and Hope said "It's her knife. I found it near the base of the pillar." He handed it to her, and she hesitantly took it. "Snow..." she said, looking back at him. He sighed. "Serah, I'm sorry. She and Deiru must be inside the pillar. They're holding up Cocoon, along with Vanille, Fang and Sofia."

Shocked, she grabbed his hand. "Wait, what are you talking about? They were right here a second ago!" she said, before walking forward. "I saw them. We talked. Lightning gave us her blessing, and Deiru introduced himself. He said he was in a relationship with my sister..." she trailed off, turning back and looking at them. They all had expressions of sadness, confusion and pity. That did, and Serah started sobbing, tearing falling onto Lightning's knife as she gripped it tighter. She fell to the ground, crying, and Snow and the others gathered around her, seeing her vent her sadness

xxx

As Serah finished I looked at her, saying "That's not how things happened at all! I was there, and Lightning's not inside the pillar!" She nodded. "I was scared. People said I was dreaming. They said... they said I was just making up stories so I didn't have to face the truth," she said. "Listen, Serah, Your memories _are_ the truth. Deiru's right here, and Lightning is alive. The question is, why are you the only one who remembers?" Noel asked. I was about to answer, thinking Etro would tell me what to say when I remembered that Etro is asleep. I wouldn't be receiving any help from the goddess on this journey. "Maybe... because the future changed?" I suggested.

"You mean her memories are true, but history afterwards was altered somehow?" Noel asked, and I nodded. "But how can history be changed? Is that even possible?" Serah wondered. I chuckled. "Humans changed history every day; every choice any individual makes can have lasting impacts on the future," I said. They nodded, and Serah decided to change the subject. "Weird. The knife looks like its been polished," she said. "Maybe someone was cleaning it out here and forgot about it. I don't think this is our artefact though. Let's keep looking," Noel said.

Serah pocketed the knife and nodded, while Mog flew ahead to try and ind something. Eventually he called "Kupo!" and came near of group of cats. "Look, I think Mog found something," Noel pointed out. "But that's just a cat. Oh, and it's the one we keep at NORA house," Serah said. We came near, and the cat, a white one with brown and black spots, ran off. "Wait, the cat couldn't be an artefact, could it?" she asked. "No... but the cat could have picked up the artefact," Noel said. "Mog, keep by it!" I ordered, and he replied "Kupo!" We ran after the cat, seeing it licking its paw by one of the houses. Once we got close though, it meowed and ran off again. "After her!" Serah said, and Noel added "Stay on her, Mog!"

We followed the cat to the vegetable garden, but then it darted around a house and I got an idea. "Noel, Serah, keep after that cat! I'll go around the other way!" I said. They nodded, and I ran around the other side. The cat saw Noel and Serah coming and ran, only to find me blocking its path. The cat slumped in defeat and mewled, while Serah bent down in front of it. "Snow! So this is where you got to. And the artefact... isn't here, is it?" she asked. I blinked, and Noel asked "Snow?" "Oh, she's my pet. Yuj found her and bright her home.

_"Hey, I don;t see why not," Gadot said. "I think we should keep her too. As long as she doesn't make a mess in workshop," Maqui said. "You sure you can look after her?" Lebreau asked. "Can't we all do it? I mean, we are one big family, right?" Yuj asked. "Maqui will do it," Gadot said, and he replied "You too!" Just as they were talking though, Snow jumped out of Yuj's arms and landed on the ground, where she walked over and brushed her side against Serah's leg, meowing. Serah reached down and petted it, smiling. "Thanks, she's adorable," she said. She thought she could hide it, but they saw right through her. Serah had lost Lightning, and then Snow. But those guys, they really tried to cheer her up._

"So it hasn't been all bad," Noel said. "No, not at all. Life is harder here, compared to back on Cocoon... But everyone sticks together. Even through the tough times we have each other. That helps," Serah said. "Gadot, Lebreau, Maqui and Yuj, they're like family, aren't they?" I asked. She nodded, her expression saddening. "Yes, but it's only part of a family. It just doesn't feel whole without my sister, you know?" she thought aloud. "If that's what you really want, someday you'll be together again," Noel told her. She smiled again, nodding her thanks. We were quiet for a moment, until Snow ran off. "We're way off track," Noel said.

"Where else should we look?" Serah asked, and I said "Come on, Mog. Help us out here!" "Kupo!" he replied. He flew off, and we followed to find him flying amongst some kids. "Look, the moogle is reacting to the kids," Serah pointed. "Yeah, but I don;t think he's looking for playmates," Noel said. "maybe one of the kids picked up the artefact and thought it was a rock or something," I suggested. We ran up the kids, and when they saw Serah they gathered around her, saying "Miss Farron!"

"These are my students. I teach their classes," she said. I smiled with an eyebrow raised. "A schoolteacher, huh?" She nodded before turning back to the kids. "Now, did everyone do their homework?" she asked. "I did mine! 'Cause I didn't want you to get mad at me like last time," a girl said, rubbing the back of her head. "Seems like you'd be soft on kids, but you're pretty strict, huh?" Noel asked. They kids nodded and started clapping their hands, chanting "Meanie Miss Farron! Meanie Miss Farron!" "I'm not that bad! Come on!" Serah protested, but they all laughed and ran off. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You know, I'm only strict because my teacher was strict," she said, before letting out a small smile. "Guess Lightning must have rubbed off on me." I laughed. "She'll have a way of doing that, the lovely woman," I said. "My grandmother was a teacher too. She taught me everything I know. She taught me about Gran Pulse and its history," Noel said. "Really? What was your grandmother like?" I asked. "I was always her favorite. She kind of spoiled me. She lived until she was fifty, so she had a lot to teach me," he told us. "Fifty? But she was still so young," Serah said. He sighed. "Live spans were longer during this age. If my grandmother were still alive she could have taught me so much more. I could've... " could've handled things better," he said.

Serah looked at him, wondering what he had handled, when we heard Maqui call "That's the kid I was looking for! I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me!" One of the students jumped and said "it's Maqui! I better get out of here!" "Kupo!" Mog called, and flew after the kid. "That kid must the artefact!" I said, running after him. Serah and Noel followed, when to our hock and horror the kid leaped over the edge of the village and began running onto the road where the monsters were. "What are you running from?" Serah asked, and Noel said "Watch it, don't go that way!" He didn't listen though, and kept running.

We followed him and almost caught up when a Pulsework Soldier appeared in front of us, blocking our path. I grunted angrily and pulled Indomitus off my back. "Out of the way!" I called, running forward and bring my sword down in an overhead blow. The impact would have made bent a normal blade in half, but my sword Indomitus was indestructible. So instead a dent was made in the machine's head, causing to creak in surprise before spinning around, hitting me in the stomach with its single huge arm. The wind was knocked out of me and I stepped back, but Noel ran forward. He slashed both his swords and created an X on the Soldier's chest, while Serah fired an arrow and punctured the cross of that X.

It shrugged off the attack and ran towards Serah, and I glared at it. This was taking up too much time, and the kid was getting away. It was time to end this. "Time's up! Noel, Serah, hit the dirt!" I called. They nodded and did so, and I called "Arc of Energy!" My sword crackled with power before I slashed it through the arc, creating a wave of blue-white energy that hit the back of the Soldier and cut it clean in half. The mechanical beast stopped and was still, until the top half slid off the bottom and fell to the ground, both halves exploding. "We have to catch that kid! Come on!" I called. Noel and Serah nodded, and we gave chase to the kid.

xxx

The artefact hunt has commenced! Will our heroes be able to catch the kid and find the artefact? And when they do, will Gadot let Noel and Deiru take Serah through the gate?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I do not own FF XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.6 The Journey Begins

"Ah ha!" Serah said triumphantly. "There, now we've got you," Noel said, while I smirked. The kid Rhett had tried to give us the slip by running into the monster-infested areas next to New Bodhum, but the three of us had both gotten past the monsters and caught him. Now that we had, he looked at all three of us hesitantly. "Miss Farron..." he tried to say. "Why did you run away? I promise I won't get mad if you tell me," Serah promised. "I know you say you won't get mad at me, but I can't tell you, I don't wanna get yelled at," he said. "This get was trying to get away from Maqui. I bet you anything he was up to no good," Noel pointed out. I nodded and said "Maqui was the person you were running away from. What did you do?"

I was watching him work on the robots and then I saw it and I just... couldn't help myself," he told us. "This ought to be good. And then what happened?" Noel asked. Rhett looked at Noel fearfully, and Serah intervened. "I hope you're not misbehaving. It makes me sad when my students don't behave," she said, lowered her head and looking away. I watched her, amazed that she could pull the guilt card so well. It worked, and Rhett slumped in defeat before saying "I'm sorry, Miss Farron. Guess I'll own up. The truth is I stole something from Maqui." "What did take?" Serah asked. He handed her something I couldn't see. "This necklace. It belongs to you, doesn't it?" he said, before running off.

"Hey!" I called, but he had leaped over a huge ledge and kept running back, unaffected by the jump. Serah held up the necklace, and I gasped when I realized that it was an exact copy of the engagement pendant she wore now. "What was he doing with this anyway?" she wondered. "That belongs to Maqui, doesn't it?" Noel asked. "No, it's mine. It's a reminder of a promise a good friend made me," she said. "That reminds me: exactly why is it that Snow's not here?" I asked. "Well..."

_Snow walked up to Serah who was standing on the dock, looking out to sea. His boots made a solid sound against the wood with each step, and she turned to look at him at it. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Serah, I believe you. Your sister's alive. She's out there somewhere," he said. She looked away, but said "Thank you, Snow." They were silent for a moment, until Snow pulled off his engagement pendant and placed it her hand. She looked up, startled, but before she could say anything Snow said "Here, you hang on to this for a while. When I come back it'll be with Lightning. Then there's no way she can say no to us getting married." It was obvious in her eyes that she didn't want him to go, but she nodded. "Okay, she said, and he did the same before walking off._

"And that was the last time I saw Snow. The memories I had of Lightning, standing on the plain beneath Cocoon... Snow was the only one who believed. Believed them enough to do something," Serah said, before looking back at us. "And that's why I've been waiting here," she finished. "And doing nothing, right?" Noel asked. My eye widened and I looked at him, and he continued. "Lightning and Snow are long gone, but you still sit here and wait. Why didn't you go after them?" he asked. Serah was silent for a moment, before saying "I have faith in Snow. He is a hero after all." "And has that faith been enough? Neither of you want to be apart, yet here you are, all alone," Noel said.

She back to look at him. "Don't you think I know that?" she asked. He sighed and shook his head, saying "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. But you tell me, what good is a hero if he's never around?" She looked away, and despite the bluntness to that question I knew he had a point. You were only I hero if you were there to help. "I've got a question. Just who exactly is this Snow person? A boyfriend?" he asked. "He's my fiancé. And like I said, he's off trying to find Lightning," she replied. "You mean he's trying to get to Valhalla?" Noel asked. "No, not exactly. I just told him it was weird that Lightning up and disappeared," Serah explained. "Sounds like the kind of guy people look up to," he said.

I laughed, but managed to conceal it in a loud sneeze that only earned Serah saying "Gesundheit." The statement Noel made I found amusing; the day I looked up to Snow was the day I ate my shoe. We returned to the village and Noel said "No artefact yet, huh?" "No, instead my things are showing up in places they shouldn't be," she replied. "I wonder if someone's trying to mess with us," he thought aloud. "I doubt it. No one here would do something like that," she stated. "Probably not. But they would if they thought they were doing it for the right reasons," I pointed out. "It might not be a person at all. I mean. With time and space warped everywhere, anything could happen, really," Serah said.

"And that's how your things ended up out here? It's not a bad theory. Okay, so maybe we should see if anyone else is missing stuff," Noel said. "Let's head to the house and find out," Serah suggested. Noel and I both nodded, and we walked back to the house. Gadot and the others were absent, eliminating any chance at asking around, but then I noticed a strange glow seemed to be coming from Serah's room. "Hey, Serah. What is that?" I asked, pointing. She looked inside and gasped. "That mirror! It was never there before!" she exclaimed. "Mirror? What mirror?" Noel asked. We both looked to see a huge full-length mirror in front of us. The sides were silver and on the top carved in the shape of a harp, including the individual strings. The entire object glowed slightly, as if filled with an unknown power.

"Well well well, check it out," Noel said. "Okay, what is that?" Serah asked, noticing a slight shimmer on the edge of the reflection. She just barely touched the mirror, and flashed bright before a strange object shot out of it. It was a crystal, made of four long and one short ruby arranged to look like a hand. They were connected at the base by a block of stone, and when I grabbed the object it floated above my hand, revolving slowly. "How... How did _that_ happen?" Serah asked. Noel looked closely at the artefact. "It's... a twist in time. Something that doesn't belong. I think this is an artefact!" he said excitedly. "Deiru? Is it an artefact?" Serah asked, and I smiled. "It most certainly is," I said.

Noel smiled and ran out, and we followed. "I'm going to take this artefact and open that gate. Deiru, you with me?" I nodded. "Definitely. Serah?" I asked. "Just answer me one question. I know that Deiru just wants to get back to Lightning, but what do you want?" she asked Noel. "A future that has people in it," he said, handing over the artefact. "I lived at the end of days. I was the very last child to be born. As I grew up, everyone I knew died, one by one. Until, eventually, it was just me. All their dreams fell on my shoulders. I was their last hope. It was too much. So I left. Sure, maybe I couldn't go home again. Maybe I couldn't make everyone happy.

"But at the very least, I could rebuild a future where everyone could survive. So I went through the gate. I wasn't thinking very clearly then. I had a dream, but I didn't think it all out. I didn't know what it really meant. But once I got here, and saw how you and your friends live in this village, I knew my dream could come true. In Valhalla, your sister gave me a chance. She gave me hope. The future can be changed. That's what she told me, and I believe her," Noel said. I looked at him, impressed by the speech. Apparently Serah was too, because she said "I understand. Thank you, Noel. Thank you for telling me that." We all looked at the crystallized form of Cocoon, and I thought of Fang, Vanille and Sofia. "Some of the greatest sweeps of history come down to the actions of but a few people," I said.

Noel nodded, and asked Serah "You want to take a moment to say good-bye, before we leave?" "Thanks, I think I'm okay," she said. "Well then, let's get this show on the road!" I said, starting for the edge of the village. We made our way to the gate with surprisingly few monsters around, none of which attacked us. I was confused, but charted it up to us having made two Gorgonopsids and an Ugallu vanish into a hole in reality along with a fierce giant. No sooner had the thought of Gogmagog crossed my mind that the beast appeared before us, roaring. "Not again!" Serah called. "Bad news for him!" Noel said, drawing his swords. I pulled Indomitus off my back and said "No kidding!" before rushing forward.

Gogmagog cast Causality Barrier and a sphere of energy appeared around him. When I struck my sword went through, but abruptly it was like slashing through water and a large amount of force was taken out of the blow. "What the-?" Noel called, seeing the same thing happen when he tried to use both his large and stabbing swords. The beast roared and raised his arm into the air, before swinging down and using Swipe. The blow hit me in the front hard enough to break three of my ribs, and I flew back until I landed on the ground. "Deiru!" Serah called, preparing to help when I waved her off. "Just get Gogmagog staggered; that's the only way to get rid of his barrier!" I said.

She looked uncertain, but nodded and turned to the giant, pulling back her bow before firing. The strength of the air was weakened like the others hits, and it barely made the beast blink. It used Swipe again and tried to hit her, but Noel switched to Sentinel and used Provoke to divert the attack. Groaning, I laid my hand against my ribs and cast Cure, suffusing my hand with a cool green light before it spread my from hand to my ribs. There was a crunch as they snapped back into place and repaired, and I stabbed Indomitus into the ground to pull myself up. Noel was hit with another Swipe but activated his Steelguard, reducing the damage to almost nothing.

Serah switched from firing arrows to casting magic, blasting the giant with a barrage of Fire spells. Noel did the same and I smiled, gathering my energy before pointing my sword at the heavens. "Take this!" I called. My sword glowed b right and pulsed with energy, charging with power as I stood perfectly still. The move was one I had copied from the fal'Cie Barthandelus, and when used by me the spell was even more powerful than before. Gogmagog roared and tried to use Swipe, and since I couldn't move it hit me straight-on. I faltered but didn't stop, holding the energy in until it grew too large for me to control. Then I called "Destrudo!" and pointed my sword at the monster before firing.

Eight separate blast of energy fired from my sword, and each one exploded on impact. The move placed the giant at its stagger threshold, and with one more Fire spell from Serah the barrier disappeared. Now that it was vulnerable we all switched to Commando and attacked. Noel jumped up and slashed with his sword while Serah fired her bow and I used Energy Arc. The three of us working together managed to keep the beast from attacking, and I smiled when I saw that it desperately tried to attack but failed. The beast was getting weaker. I knew that just one more good hit would put it over the edge, so I ran forward and did just that. "Try this on for size!" I spun in the air and my sword glowed with silver power, before I called "Lunar Blade!" and threw it.

Gogmagog managed to recast its barrier just in time, but even so my sword went through like it wasn't there. It pierced him in the chest and glowed brightly, before cracks began to spread across its skin. The giant writhed in agony as they spread, and light shined from in between the cracks as they covered its entire body. Then there was a blinding flash of light, and Gogmagog made a near-human scream of pain before he dragged himself back into the Void Beyond, not ready to die yet. We were all silent for a few minutes, until I smiled and spun my sword. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" I said gladly. "How in the world did you get that kind of power, Deiru? Not even l'Cie possess such strength," Noel asked.

"A regular l'Cie, no. But when I came to this world the goddess blessed me with ten powers, ones that made me far stronger than any other l'Cie. I lost my seventh and tenth powers, but when I was taken to Valhalla I was given the same power boost as Lightning. There are few that possess the level of strength that I do," I explained. "And was that move one of your powers?" Serah asked. I nodded. "Power Number Nine: my ultimate technique, Lunar Blade," I said simply. With that we made it to the gate, and Noel asked "Are you sure you're ready? You know, once we go through, there might be no coming back." There was a long moment of silence, until Serah nodded.

"Yes, I'm ready to go. It's not a dream, or a lie. I know my sister is alive out there. I'm sorry I doubted you, both of you. Of all people, I should know how bad it can make you feel when no one believes what you say. Snow put all his trust in me. Now it's my turn to do the same for you. I've made up my mind. You two and I, we all go together," she said. I smiled; there was the core of strength that was beneath the gentle exterior. "Alright. You sure you're not gonna say goodbye, though?" I asked. She shook her head. "There's no need. We kind of have, sort of," she said.

She drew the knife the Lightning had and Snow's pendant said "Lightning's knife. It's been sharpened and clean. My pendant has a brand new chain, and this morning Snow was purring like a kitten. Someone must have given her a good brushing." Behind us we heard a meow, and turned to see Gadot, Yuj and Maqui huddled by the edge of the crater. I smiled, and Noel said "Hey." Lebreau walked up behind them and said "Why don't you guys go and fess up?" They all stood, and Maqui said "Hey Serah. I figured there was no way you're leaving the pendant behind. So I made a chain. You know, so you wouldn't lose it." "If Lightning is alive, wouldn't want her getting mad over a 'poorly maintained weapon'. You know her," Gadot admitted.

"If you leave, someone's gotta pick up the slack looking after Snow. So I volunteered myself," Yuj told us. Serah smiled sadly. "Thanks guys. It's time for me to go," she said. The others all looked away at this, and she continued. "I don't what's waiting out there, in the future, between worlds… But I want to see Lightning so much. If there's a chance, any chance at all, I want to take it." Lebreau stepped forward. "You can go. But only if you promise to come back in one piece. Promise?" she warned. Serah nodded. "I promise. If I believe, maybe a miracle will happen," she said. Noel held up the artefact and said "The future won't change until you make the first step." "You know what you're doing, right?" Gadot asked.

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't. This is the first time either Noel or I have opened a gate before. Guess we'll have to see what happens," I said. "Hey! What about Serah?!" he yelled. "I'll protect her. I promise. I vow never to let her come to harm," Noel declared, his tone leaving no room for doubt. Lebreau put her hand on Gadot's shoulder, quietly saying "Gadot…" "Trust us. For Serah's sake," I said. He looked down, but slowly nodded. Serah held the artefact up tot eh gate, and it glowed before vanishing. The metal spires spread out, and the sphere of light spun faster. "I guess this is it," she said. "I guess so," Noel agreed, and I added "The future starts now." All three of us, Mog as well, rose into the air as our bodies were enveloped in golden light. Serah waved. "I'll be back!' she promised, before we were drawn into the gate. A pillar of golden light shot into the heavens, shining for a second before thinning out and disappearing.

_ Serah, you set out on your journey for my sake. You believed in a promise. You believed in a future you could not see. I will keep fighting here, at the end of the world. I know you will come. I believe in you_.

Above on a cliff, a girl wearing a veil whispered "Deiru… Serah…" Beside her, Caius Ballad glared at the gate through which the trio had gone, and a silver-haired individual smiled hungrily.

xxx

The journey across time had begun. Where will the trio arrive? What will they do? And what of that trio? We know who Caius is, but who was the girl with the veil and silver-haired individual?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

**Notice:** For those of you who did not know, any writing that is in italics without quotation is either a flashback, or Lightning's narration of the story. Sorry if that confused any of you.

Ch.7 Monstrous Enemy

The four of us floated through a place that wasn't, filled with orange smoke and shifting rings of gears that we floated through. "Wow. What is this place?" Serah asked. "It's the Historia Crux. The crossroads of the time continuum," Noel explained. "So this is how the two of you were able to travel here?" she asked. I nodded. "Yup. We just floated through this lapse in reality. And now it's time for you to as well," I said. She nodded and looked ahead. "But how do we reach any other time periods?" she wondered, frowning. "Simple. When we reach a gateway in the Crux there will be a flash of light and a part of the air in front of us will split open. We just go through and we're in another time period," I said.

She nodded and we kept going. It wasn't long until the very thing I said happened, and we went through.

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**Episode 2**

**Unseen Intruder**

**Bresha Ruins 005 AF**

_When we reach for the future, we sometimes fall into the past. As we gaze upon events we cannot change, our hearts grow bitter with regret. And you, my dear Serah and Deiru, will you encounter your past here? How will you choose to deal with that pain?_

Time seemed to slow down as we emerge from the gate, Mog calling "Kupo!" Then it resumed and we fell, luckily landing on our feet. I looked ahead and recognized the Palace; it was the ruins near Lake Bresha. Various soldiers and scientists walked the area, and ahead was path that led deeper in. In front of us was a huge hole in the ground with a giant hand stretching out. We walked forward and Serah said "This is Cocoon..." "Really? Are you sure?" Noel asked. She nodded and pointed. "Yeah, check it out. You can see the ground above us," she said. Noel looked around. "Wow. So this is how Cocoon looks from the inside," he said in awe. I blinked. "I forgot; this is your first time inside Cocoon, isn't it?" I asked. He nodded, and I smiled. "It does take some getting used to."

We all looked around from where we ere, when suddenly I heard pulse and looked head. A huge mechanical arm, one with nothing visible attached to it, rose into the air. All the soldiers and civilians around began panicking, and Serah called "What is _that_?" The arm moved to swipe at her, but Noel called "Look out!" and pushed her out of the way. Instead it hit a series of stone pillars, which toppled easily beneath the arm, which had to be the size of and length of an airship. "Get up!' Noel told Serah, and she did. "An arm?!" she asked incredulously. "Yeah, and not looking to shake hands, I'm guessing!" Noel said, walking forward. I nodded and ran up alongside him, pulling Indomitus off my back. "Guess we'll have to introduce ours3elves in a different way!" I said.

The arm made a fist and swung down straight at us, but I blocked with Indomitus by calling on what was left of my divine strength from Valhalla. The arm pushed and I blocked, before falling back as it slammed into the ground. The impact sent me and Noel back until we hit a wall, and while I was able to stand Noel fell to the ground. "Noel!" Serah called, and ran forward with Mog. He turned into a bow and Serah caught it, pulling back and aiming. "Take this!" she said, firing an arrow straight at it. The impact was dead-on, but the fist was of such massive size that it dealt barely any damage.

The arm rose back up and then punched back down, and I could feel my stamina being weakened by the attack. "This guy uses Wounding attacks! They'll lower your max health, so watch out!" I warned them. Serah and Noel both nodded, and while Noel turned his sword into a lance and threw it forward. I raised my sword into the air and began gathering strength, charging Destrudo. The arm waved its hand blasted us with massive gust of wind, and my concentration faltered for a second. Serah fired a quartet of Ruin spells at the same time that Noel cast three Fire spells, the combined assault pushing the arm back slightly. It formed a fist again and tried to punch Serah, but she jumped back and avoided it.

By then I wads finished charging, and pointed Indomitus at the arm before calling "Destrudo!" Eight sphere of energy shot from my word and hit the arm, each one exploding on impact. The blast caused a crack to appear along one of the fingers, and the arm swung straight at me. I moved away just in time, and Noel said "Okay!" before jumping up and throwing his stabbing sword. It arc through the air before hitting the hand, imbedding itself in the crack. I smiled. "That's the way to do it!" and bestowed Bravery on Noel and Faith on Serah. We kept going, but the arm seemed to be showing no signs of becoming weaker. Then I heard a piercing scream and turned to see a young woman in a lab coat crouched by a stack of boxes, too terrified to run away.

To my horror the arm moved away from us and towards her, and my eye widened. "Noel, Serah, distract that thing! We have to save her!" I called, and ran forward before they could respond. Thankfully they did as I asked and began firing spell after spell,m trying to draw the arm's attention away. It worked partly, and occupied the arm long enough for me to reach the young woman. "Come on, get up!" I said urgently, but she was so frightened that she was still as a statue. Grunting angrily I picked up and slung her over my shoulder, running away from the battle while carrying her. Once I was a safe distance away I placed her behind a pile of steel rods, and ran back.

Noel and Serah were doing good on holding their own, but the arm showed no additional signs of damage. I frowned, before catching up to them and casting Firaga. The spell should have hit the arm but it moved at the last second, and I expected the spell to just sail past through the air. But instead it stopped and exploded as if it hit something, and I looked at Noel. He had sen it to. He ran forward and jumped into the palm of the giant hand. It was about to crush him when he ran up and leaped into the air, slamming both his swords down at empty air. But rather than nothing happening there was a metallic bang, and my suspicions were right when they arm moved back.

Noel landed next to us and said "An invisible giant!" "Then we know how to bring it down!" I said, before casting Volley of Ruin. I aimed for where I guess the head when have been, and smiled when I heard a large mechanical groan. Noel and Serah followed my example, dodging when the arm tried to punch us into the pavement. I knew that at this rate we still had the upper hand, but it wouldn't be long before the giant's strength was going to wear out us. Then I heard a whirring in the air and turned to see a trio of military skytanks fly forward. I smiled. "Finally, some backup!" I called. Noel and Serah looked, and smiled as well. The ships flew close and the operator called "Hostile located! Engage at will!"

The large energy cannon lowered and opened up, aiming at the giant. "Paradox effect confirmed. Targeting Atlas," he said. The cannons glowed as power built up, and when he called "Fire!" all three of the ships did just that. The giant, Atlas, fell back and buckled beneath the assault, and he actually lowered into the ground, the invisible part of the giant fading as the arm settling back into the hols it was in before. All was silent for a moment, until Noel said "That was exciting." "Guess it's over," Serah said, and I nodded. I put Indomitus on my back and watched as one of the ships began lowering to the ground. "It's the army!" Serah said, and ran forward. Mog changed back into his regular formed and they waved, while Noel asked "Friends of yours?"

Serah was about to nod when a squad of soldiers ran forward, aiming their guns straight at us. The ship stayed above the ground and turned its turrets at us, while the operator called "Attention, intruders. Surrender immediately." I looked at the soldiers and thought for a second that I could take them, before realizing that it would serve little purpose. So I sighed, and rose my hands into the air along with Serah, Noel and Mog. The soldiers surrounded us and gestured for us to move forward, which we had no choice but to do. Along the way I grumbled angrily, and Serah asked "What's wrong, Deiru?" "I'm feeling a particular sense of deja-vu," I said. She looked at me questioningly and I sighed.

"I save the entire world from annihilation, lose my l'Cie brand, disappear for three years, reappear and time travel another few, and I _still_ have the armies of Cocoon pointing their guns at me!" I said angrily. "Quiet!" one of the soldiers said, and I glared at him. The force of my gaze caused him to shuffle uncomfortably, before looking ahead and resuming his march. We were led to the squad captain, who said "You're being detained as suspects in the unsanctioned activation of Atlas. Come with me, and no funny business." I redirected my glare at him, but by then he had already turned around and moved forward. Still, he worked his shoulders as if he felt it, and led us to a cell which we were pushed into.

They marched off with one soldier left behind to guard us, and Noel said "We're being treated like criminals." I sat on a metal crate and smiled. "You'll get used to it with Cocoon armies," I said, making sure that the guard could hear me. "it's just a misunderstanding," Serah said, and Noel nodded. "That's right,. Stick to the truth, and we'll be fine. And smiled. Smiling usually helps," he said. "Where are we anyway? What's going on?" Serah wondered. I stood and said "Alright, let me explain things. As you know we're in the Bresha Ruins. In the wake of the fal'Cie's demise the entire government of Cocoon has been incredibly unstable. Now that they are able research groups have begun exploring the ancient ruins on both Cocoon and Pulse, the most prominent of which is known as the Academy.

"The Academy has established a center here in the ruins, where an ancient relic has been discovered. This relic is an massive war weapon; a mechanical giant known as Atlas," I finished. "And this Academy thinks that we activated Atlas?" Serah asked, I nodded. "Then all we have to do is tell them the truth and we'll be fine!' she said hopefully. "That's what we hope," Noel said. Serah approached the guard to try and talk to him, but before she could he said "Don't try to talk your way out of this; all three of you are going straight to Academy HQ. They'll drag the truth out of you." "But we're innocent!" Serah protested. He scoffed and turned back around. "Yeah, that's what they all say. Do you two come up on the Gran Elevator?" he asked.

"The Gran what? Serah, what's he talking about?" Noel asked. "he could be talking about the elevator that supposed to connect Cocoon in Pulse. But it's still being built. It's going to be finished next year," she told him. "Wrong. It was done last year," the guard said. Serah gasped. "last year?! What's going on?" he asked. "My guess is that we've traveled ahead two years, considering that what was supposed to be finished next year was instead done last year," Noel hypothesized. I nodded. "You're right," I said. We were stuck in that cell for what seemed like hours, and I wondered if we were ever going to get out of here. Then a female voice called "Serah, is that you?!" and a girl who, with my knowledge of the events of XIII-2, was the last person I wanted to see. She fell over and the guard helped her, giving us the chance to see what she looked like.

She was a young, petite woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a white top with yellow puffy sleeves, a red vest and light blue necktie. She also wore dark fingerless gloves, small gray shorts, knee-high black boots and two red packs, one around her waist and another around her upper right leg. I glared at her as she gave us a quick wink before speaking to the guard. "Alyssa Zaidelle. I'm an Academy intern. I heard you apprehended our two observers, so here I am," she announced. "Observers?" the guard asked. Alyssa nodded. "Yes, they're invited guests of the Academy. I was showing them around and forget to give them communicators-" she began, but then the guard said "Back up a second. These guy- er, 'observers' are V.I.P.'s?"

Both Serah and Noel raised their eyebrows, and the guard chuckled nervously. "Ahhh... I hope we can forget about this little mix-up," he said, hurriedly unlocking the door. I sighed in relief as I stepped out, and we followed Alyssa back to the ruins. Along the way, she told us about what was happening in the ruins. Strange energies ere warping time itself, resulting in unusual occurrences called "paradoxes". I could see Serah working the information over in her head, and I smiled. She realized that getting to Valhalla was going to be harder than expected, and she wondered how we were going to do that if we didn't even know where we were going to end up next.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we _will_ find her. I promise," I said. She smiled and nodded, but looked up when storm clouds rumbled overhead. Rain began falling, and I held up my hand. "Rain?" Serah asked, and I nodded. "Unusual," I noted. "I'll supply all three of you with comm devices. You'll need them to get any further into the ruins," Alyssa said, handing each of us a communicator. "Thank you for your help. I was just wondering: Have we met before?" Serah asked. Alyssa giggled. "Oh, no. Sorry about all that 'observer' nonsense back there. Lucky for us, that soldier was so quick to believe me," she said. "Huh. So what's your story?" I asked, doing my best to keep the edge out of my tone and gaze.

"Like you heard, my name is Alyssa Zaidelle. And these ruins here are where I'm going to make my big discovery!" she said excitedly, before turning around and running off. "Right this way, please!" she called back. Serah, Noel and I looked at each other, before we all shrugged and followed. Once we caught up Noel said "So, I'm curious. Just _why_ are you helping us, anyway?" Alyssa's smiled faded and she pointed at us. "i saw you three. I saw how you got here through that thing," she said. "What? You mean through the gate?" Noel asked, and when I looked at him he realized he had just given it away. "Yes, it _is_ a kind of gate. It links to another world, doesn't it?" she asked.

She sighed in relief. "Nice to finally have some clue what these things are for," she remarked. "So basically, helping us out was part of your research. But you still have questions," Noel said. She nodded. "I do have questions, yes. About the gate and the paradox," she said. Noel crossed his arms. "But, with Atlas throwing his weight around, the ruins'll be closed off and there goes the chance to get your answers," he pointed out. I crossed my arms as well. "Time and ways to cross it aren't something you should be messing with anyway," I stated. She looked down and away, and Serah said "Guys..." I wasn't budging, but Noel said "No problem. We'll take care of that giant for you." Alyssa looked up. "You will? Great!"

Serah and Noel nodded and ran off, while I sighed before following. Serah slowed down to be next to me and asked "What's wrong, Deiru? You were on edge that whole time with Alyssa. Do you know her?" I chuckled humorlessly. "Oh I knew her, alright. But thankfully she doesn't know me, or rather she didn't," I said, not even noticing the slight venom in my voice. "Why? Did she do something to you?" Serah pressed. "It's less what she already did to me, and more what she _will_ do to us," I said. "What do you mean? What does she do?" Serah asked. But I wouldn't answer that one, and she pouted before looking back ahead.

xxx

Hey, sorry I didn't update this sooner. I had a family reunion-type thing to go to, and couldn't work on this chapter until now. But now it's done, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

**Notice:** Whoa! I did not expect 1000 views so soon, if ever! Thank you, my readers, for this much support. And to show my appreciation, here's the next chapter!

Ch.8 Powers of Chaos

While we searched for Atlas we walked along the ruins, and Serah asked Noel "Why did you offer to stop the giant?" "Because we can't let Atlas shut this place down. We need to search the ruins. There might be other gates we can use," he said. "Like to Valhalla?" she asked, and he replied "Exactly. How can Deiru and I get you to Lightning without those handy-dandy portals?" I shrugged. "Well, we do need to find gates to get there," I said. "Right. We'll do it your way," Serah conceded. It was a good thing she did too, because at that moment a trio of monsters appeared. There was a Cait Sith, a Zwerg Scandroid and a Gremlin, all of which made various sounds before rushing forward.

Each of us drew our separate weapons and charged forward, while the Scandroid cast Thunder and shot a bolt of lightning at me. I twisted to the side and dodged the blow, continuously spinning until my blade came back around and hit the machine in the side. My sword went halfway through before stopping, wedged in while the machine flailed around like a panicked fish. The Gremlin cast Blizzard at Serah and she didn't dodge fast enough, grunting in pain as the ice shard hit her in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Mog changed back out of bow and flew forward, waving his clock-like staff around and hitting the Gremlin with it like a club. It glared at him and hit him with a head-butt, causing the moogle to flip over in the air back to Serah.

Noel swung his large sword at the Cait Sith before stabbing with his smaller sword, scoring a pair of hits across its armored center. It meowed angrily and cast Cure on itself before floating forward, jumping out and scratching angrily with its claws. Noel held up his arm and received several cuts to it, and while they weren't deep he hissed at the stinging. I gripped Indomitus with both hands and concentrated, casting my own Thunder spell and overloading the Scandroid's systems and until it keened and exploded, pieces of burning shrapnel flying through the air. Serah regained her breath and grabbed Mog when he turned back into a bow, aiming and gathering her strength before firing a single massive arrow.

It pierced the Gremlin and the fiend screeched, managing to run forward about half a dozen steps before Serah shot another arrow, her aim sharp enough to hit the first one and push it through while putting the second in the exact same place. The Gremlin fell over, dead while Noel slammed both of his swords down and finished off the Cait Sith. But rather than vanish like the monsters usually did, its body turned white before fading, revealing a glowing white crystal. "What the-?" Noel said, while I smiled. "What? The monster turned into crystal!" Serah said. Mog flew forward, and in a rather high-itched voice said "Servant of Time. Daughter of Chaos. Vessel of the Goddess. Unto the world unseen, the untamed you guide."

I looked at Mog in surprise, and Noel tapped him on the head. "Huh. What do you know; it talks," he said. "Wait. What you mean 'guide the untamed'?" Serah asked. "Your power over monsters, Kupo," Mog told her. "Over monsters?" Serah asked, confused. Noel looked up, thinking. "Now that I think about, Lightning and Deiru had monsters fighting alongside them in Valhalla," he said. "You can do the same, kupo," Mog said. "Okay, this power. Can you show me how it works? I want to learn how to protect myself. Might as well start now," Serah said. I smiled. "Alright, follow me," I said. She did, and I walked into a large open space in the ruins. "Time for you first lesson in what I called 'monster hunting'."

Basically, your power over monsters mean that any monster you fight, barring Cie'th and other abnormally large or powerful enemies, can potentially release a crystal that houses its spirit. If you have that crystal, you can summon that monster that was once your enemy to battle as your new ally. Every monster has a different likeliness of becoming a crystal, with some being easy to collect while others are damn near impossible. Once captured each monster can fulfill a single role, such as Commando or Ravager. Cait Sith is a Medic, and as such can use spells such as Cure. Go on; take out his crystal, concentrate on him appearing and try," I said. Serah looked unsure, but nodded and held the crystal into the air.

It glowed brightly before flashing, and the same monster we had just destroyed appeared in front of us. But the feral look that had been in its eyes before was gone, replaced with curiosity and interest in us. "As a monster you recruited, Cait Sith is bound to your will and must obey all your commands. Give it one," I told her. She was still unsure, but said "Okay… Cait Sith, use Cure!" It mewled and did so, suffusing its body in green light as it cast its ordered spell. "Cait Sith will obey any command you give it, as well as assist in battle as it deems best. With so few medic abilities as you and Noel have yet to unlock, Cait will be an important ally. "One more thing: While fighting in battle all monsters have what is known as 'Feral-ness'.

"Basically, it is the monster's natural fighting urges that increase the more it battles. When that Feral-ness becomes high enough, it can unleash a unique ability called a 'Feral Link'. It's a special attack the monster can use, and different to each monster. But when a Feral Link in unleashed the monster's Feral-ness resets, so use it wisely," I advised. Serah nodded, making sure to commit the grander part of what I said to memory. She looked nervous, and I smiled. "Don't worry; with more practice comes experience," I reminded her. She smiled, and at that moment where was a huge tremor and we all looked up. A massive arm that could only belong to Atlas crashed through a thirty-foot wall, scattering rubble and stonework before vanishing.

"What just happened?" Serah asked. "Looks like we're getting overlap from another reality. Atlas has disappeared into another world, or another time, I guess," Noel said. "Then we had better find him pretty quick," I said. They nodded and we kept going we passed by another gate, but without the needed artefact we ignored it and kept going. A pair of Mononektons appeared, and Cait Sith appeared without even being called. The three of us rushed forward and Noel and I swung at one, while Serah shot her bow at another. They both fired Ruin spells, and when they hit Cait Sith meowed before automatically working to heal us. I smiled; this thing had a good use after all.

I jumped up and threw my sword, watching it sail through the air and stab the Mononekton right in the front. It screeched and thrashed around, trying in vain to dislodge. Noel ran forward and was about to grab my sword and my eye widened. "Wait! Don't-" I began, but by then it was too late. Noel had grasped the handle of Indomitus, and it glowed brightly before turning red with heat. Noel shouted and jumped back, his hands burnt while the sword pulled itself out of the Mononekton and flew back to my hand. I caught it. "Sorry; I tried to warn you. I'm the only human alive that can wield Indomitus. If anyone else tried to grasp it then…" I gestured at his hand. "That happens," I finished.

Noel grunted but Cait Sith cast Cure, healing the burns on his hands enough for him to keep using them. He ran at the monster and swung with his larger sword, but nit dodged to the side while its ally moved out of the path of one of Serah's arrows. Luckily that placed the two of them closer together, and I cast Fira to hit them both with the blast at once. They staggered from the force of the spell, but then Noel turned into swords into a javelin and threw them while Serah fired another arrow. They both hit a spate monster at once, and they shuddered before slumping to the ground.

Now that that was done we kept going, and when we passed a corner Atlas's fist suddenly punched into a wall. "Kupo!" Mog called, and it vanished. Alyssa's voice sounded over the intercom. "_There was once a graveyard in these ruins, but now it's gone. If you guys see it, please let me know_," she said. We nodded and turned the last corner, when the thought of the graveyard was suddenly driven out of our minds. Serah and Mog gasped, while Noel called "It's Atlas!" A good hundred meters he was indeed there, standing a nearly seventy feet tall. Atlas's body was dark blue with lines of a lighter shade outlining his arms and muscles, while a pair of orange horns framed a face that was built to have a rather angry expression. "There he is!" I called, drawing Indomitus.

Our communicator buzzed again, and Alyssa said "_We've detected a large energy surge in the center of the ruins. Another unknown device has appeared._" "Did the machine appear along with Atlas? If Atlas is a weapon built by humans, they must have designed a way to stop it," Serah said. Catching on, Noel added "And the machine showing up is no coincidence." "Right!" she replied. I crossed my arms. "Okay, we have two options: One, we find the machine and see if it can help us take control of Atlas. Two, we forget about it and fight him head-on. No regrets, or second chances," I said. Serah considered that for a second, before saying "I want to look at that device. It must have something to do with the paradox."

"Let's go check it out. You know, if we try to take out Atlas now while the paradox is still in effect, there's no telling what else may happen," Noel pointed out. We all agreed, so instead of rushing at Atlas we took a left, walking up a set of steel steps to a pathway into the ruins. The inside of the ruins were dryer and warmer than the outside, and soldier paroled the area whenever monsters appeared. At one point the road split into two, and we took the path on the left. At the end of the path thought, was no device, but rather a Cie'th. "What the-? A Cie'th?" Serah asked. It was, a Ghast none the less, and it roared before lumbering forward, and luckily for me I already had Indomitus in hand. Charging, I brought my sword down and hit in with a massive overhead blow.

It didn't even try to dodge, and roared and jerked from side to side with my blade imbedded in its chest. Noel cast Fire and burnt off a part of it stone-like skin and it looked in his direction before casting Fira. The spell was disrupted by my blade though, and it exploded in the space between the Cie'th and me. I flew through the air and fell on my back, burnt and dazed from the close-range explosion. "Are you alright?" Serah asked, and I nodded, waving at her to keep fighting. She did so and gathered her strength, turning her bow into a blade and running forward to unleash Flamestrike. Noel joined her and two moved in rapid succession; when one of them wasn't landing a hit the other was.

The Ghast tried to swing and hit Noel with its arm, but he ducked his head, and stabbed his smaller sword into its armpit. He angled the sword so that the Ghast couldn't lower its arm, and that left its side completely exposed. Serah took advantage of the weakness and fired, hitting it in its exposed side hard enough for the arrow of energy to disappear. The Cie'th roared and tried to come after her, but I stopped it by the simplest means possible. I stuck my foot out and tripped it. The beast growled in surprise, falling face-first and ending up sprawled on the floor. "And… good night!" I called, cast Waterga and Blizzaga. The chill of the first spell froze the second, and all that was left of the Cie'th was massive block of ice that wasn't going to thaw for years to come.

We were all silent for a moment, before Serah asked "Hey, Noel? Is Atlas used in some war that happens in the future?" He looked away, thinking. "Hmm, let me think… Yeah, I remember this." I raised an eyebrow. "Are you forgetting stuff?" I asked. He sighed. "My… memories are unreliable. There are events I should remember, but my memory is hazy. Like I'm seeing them through fogged glass. But not this time. I remember this one. There was a war hundreds of years before I was born. That's when Cocoon crashed into Pulse," he told us. Serah gasped. "What about the crystal pillar?" she asked. "It collapsed. The fighting damaged the pillar, and it wasn't strong enough to hold Cocoon up anymore," he replied. I stepped forward. "Then like you said, let's see if there's a way to change that," I said. They both nodded and we walked back.

We made it back to the path and this time took the fork to the right. At the end was an inverted pyramid, and lying on top of it was a pair of diamond-shaped crystals, both pink and one larger than the other. "Weird machine. Must be it," Noel said. We approached the machine, and then the ground rumbled as energy spread outwards across the ground. Suddenly a hand that belonged to Atlas shot out of the ground, and grabbed all of us before pulling us in.

xxx

When I opened my eyes we were in another place entirely one that could hardly even exist. All four of us were standing on red tiles which hovered in midair, while more floated ahead. They formed a complex pattern of paths, which were dotted with crystals and ending with a single path to a gate. "Where are we?" Serah asked. "A time labyrinth, kupo," Mog replied. Noel looked around. Besides the tiles, crystals and gate, all that existed was a swirling mass of colors. "I think we're inside the paradox," he thought aloud. "Oh no…" she said, and Mog said "We have to figure out the labyrinth and its puzzles in order to get out, kupo." Without waiting I stepped forward, and the tile that I had previously been stepping on disappeared.

Making sure to grab each of the crystals carefully- each tile I stepped off of vanished- and when I touched the gate we were transported to another pathway of different design. Serah took this one, and after a few tries she got it right. Noel handled the last puzzle, and when he touched the gate all was once again enveloped in light. We were suspended in it for a few minutes, until the light faded and we fell through the air back into the ruins. "Ow!" I complained, having fallen right on my backside. Noel and Serah groaned as well while Mog just said "Kupo…" Behind us the two crystals that had been lying on top of the machine had risen into the air, spinning while the pyramid let out a sonar-like pulse.

Suddenly there was a huge rumble, and I wondered if the ruins were collapsing. Then it stopped, and over the communicator Alyssa said "_Ugh, finally! Can you hear me? It looks like Atlas is starting to slow down a little!_" "Sounds like we did _something_," Serah said. "Then let's go!" I said, and they nodded. We ran out of the ruins and back into the rain, taking a right and running back to where we saw Atlas before. He was still there, only his movement seemed to be slower. "There he is!" Serah called, and Noel added "And not looking too happy!" I smiled and drew my sword, charging forward and calling "All the better! It's go time!"

Serah and Noel got their weapons as well, and Atlas looked down at us, our size that of ants compared to him. But I had faced tougher enemies, and so I used Energy Arc to send three waves of power that hit him straight in the chest. It grunted, the sound like cinder blocks grinding together, and pulled back to punch me with a fist the size of a house. Thankfully Atlas's extreme size was accompanied by very low speed, and the crater he made in the ground was nowhere near where I got to. Serah took the chance while he was bent over and fired, the arrow sailing up and hitting him straight in the face. Atlas turned his head to look at her and swung his hand, hitting her with the back of it and sending her crashing into a wall hard enough to create cracks in it.

"Serah!" Noel and I called, and the Cait Sith that was under Serah's control immediately went over to her and cast Cure. I hesitated for a moment, concerned, and Atlas swung another punch while I was distracted. I saw it coming at the last minute and rolled out the way. I wasn't crushed like a pancake, but the blast of air from the impact sent me through the air until I hit my head against a tree, where I sat dazed. Noel ran forward and tried to stop the giant, but was batted aside as well and hit the same tree as me. With victory assured Atlas stood straight, and made a metallic wheezing that I realized was laughter. I was too infuriated by that to wonder why a machine could laugh, but then Noel groaned.

"This isn't going well; Atlas is just too strong. Is there anything that we can do?" he asked. I looked at him and then at Serah, who was still being healed by Cait Sith. I wasn't sure, until an idea popped into my head. "There is one thing," I said. Noel looked up. "What?" "I could try summoning my personal Eidolon, but there's a high probability that it won't work," I told him. "There's no choice. Do it!" he said. I looked at him. "I'm not kidding; without my l'Cie powers or being in Valhalla, I have almost no chance of summoning her," I said. "It doesn't matter. You have to try!" Noel said. I realized that really was no choice, so I nodded and stepped forward.

I pulled the right sleeve of my coat back, exposing the silver-crescent burn mark on the underside of my forearm. I concentrated and the mark started to glow with silver light. Atlas stood up straight and raised his arms, making a hammer fist high above his head. I focused harder, and I could feel energy travel up my arm to my hand, which crackled with purple and silver electricity. He took a deep breath and gathered his strength, while I poured all my strength into summoning my eidolith. In a flash it appeared in my hand, a perfectly formed diamond that was completely black, my face reflected countless times in its surface. I smiled hugely and placed it on the ground, raising my sword.

"From the darkest depths of the blackest abyss, raise forth, my queen of night. Come into this world and rent my enemies asunder, for yours and mine are one on the same! Come forth…" Atlas swung the hammer fist down and I did the same with my sword, shattering the eidolith and calling "Regnuma!"

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Well, here's the latest chapter. And next one is Deiru's mighty Eidolon, along with why Alyssa was looking for that cemetery!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.9 Past Crimes

The moment I shattered the eidolith all was still, until time resumed and a burst of light erupted from the ground. I blocked my eyes with my arm while even Atlas took a step back, dazed by the flash. My eidolith had shattered into seven pieces, all of which flew up into the sky and disappeared amongst the clouds. Thunder rumbled overhead, and a dark shape wrapped in a pair of bat wings plummeted down and crashed into the ground. Through the dust Regnuma stood and unfurled her wings, waving them and scattering the cloud with a single sweep. My Eidolon was a total of thirty feet tall, a third the size of Atlas. Her skin was tan brown and clung her arms, with little muscle between it and her bones. Her hands and feet ended in iron-gray curved claws, and steel shackles hung around her ankles and wrists.

She wore only a solid black kilt-like skirt and a rusted black crown with a silver crescent in the center which she wore on top of long, ash-silver hair. The hair framed a skull-like face with no nose, lips, or eyelids, and every one of her teeth were sharpened to a fine point. Her eyes were bottomless black pits that stared emptily, until they flashed and became glowing red orbs, burning with power and blood-lust. Regnuma spread her arms and reared her head back, letting out a screech that was high-pitched and reminded me a knife on a chalkboard. I smiled and stepped forward beside her, and she looked down at me. "Regnuma, the time has come for you to destroy again. Now I give you one command: Destroy Atlas!" I called, pointing at the giant.

If she could have Regnuma would have smiled, and flapped her wings before taking into the air. Atlas growled mechanically and swung at her, but she dodged easily and threw a volley of fire spells at the side of his neck. They all exploded on impact, and Atlas glared at her before roaring. Waves of sound flew forth and hit my Eidolon, who only faltered slightly from the assault before flying forth and slashing at the Atlas's chest. She left a long set of claw marks halfway across his breast, and he roared before bring his hands together and clapping. The wave of air shot at and hit Regnuma head-on, and she fell back from the force of the blow. I ran up to Atlas and cast Thundaga, aiming for the bolt of lightning to hit the claw marks and travel through them into his body.

By now Noel had gotten back up and Cait Sith had finished healing Serah, which added two back to our number. "That _thing_ is your Eidolon?" Serah asked, watching Regnuma duck and weave through the air and she cast, slashed and bit all over the giant. I smiled wider and nodded. "Regnuma, Queen of Night and Eidolon of shadows," I said simply. Noel smiled as well. "With that thing on our side we can't lose! Let's go!" he said excitedly, and both Serah and I nodded. Noel ran to Atlas's left and began casting countless Ruins spell, while Serah went to the right and fired her bow. I called "Regnuma!" and she flew down low enough for me to jump on her back, and I held on tight as she flew up.

The three-direction assault left Atlas confused and enraged, so when he saw us he made another hammer fist and swung at us. I called "Volley of Ruin!" and pointed Indomitus at him, sending out multi-elemental blast that hit the fist and actually cracked a finger. Regnuma swerved to the side and avoided the hit, raising her arms over her head and growling. A ball of white and blue flame with purple in the center appeared in the air between her hands and steadily grew, growing from the size of a basketball to a person and then a car. She roared and threw it at Atlas. The blast him in stomach and he doubled over, clutching as it the raw heat melted the outer layer of metal on his stomach.

"Time to finish this! Gestalt Mode!" I called, and she nodded. I jumped off of Regnuma and she spread her wings, roaring as her body turned back and dissolved into shifting black smoke. It enveloped me and solidified, turning into a suit of black metal armor and a second sword that was a mirror of Indomitus; only the cloth was black and gold rather than blue and silver. Diluculum. A pair of black metallic wings sprouted from the back of the armor and I willed them to beat as I flew forward, slashing both swords down in an X on Atlas's face. The resulting cut burned orange and the giant roared, bringing a hand to its face and waving at me blindly. I flew out of the way and back to the ground, where Noel and Serah had successfully turned his feet into replicas of porcupines.

Atlas reached up a giant pillar of stone appeared in his hand, and he threw it down at us. "Noel!" Serah called, and he replied her name. I swerved out of the way of the pillar and Serah gathered all her strength, firing a single arrow that hit it in the center. For a moment both pushed against each other until the pillar shattered, and just as the rubble was about to hit Noel and Serah they vanished. I looked around for a second before they reappeared above Atlas, falling onto his shoulder. I flew up and saw a huge amber crystal on the back of his head, which pulsed with energy. "I think that's his weak spot!" Serah called. Just as we nodded Atlas brought his hand up and I called "Noel!"

He saw it and rolled out of the way, and I poured my strength into my two swords. "Ready guys?" I asked. They nodded, and while Serah bulled back her bow Noel turned his sword into a javelin. "Now!" he called, and we all threw our weapons at the crystal. They hit and it shattered, causing Atlas to almost immediately groan in pain. He fell to one knees and the shock wave traveled up to us. Noel and Serah almost fell off and I flew forward, dismissing my swords and calling "Grab my hand!" They each took hold of one and I flew down, taking them back to the ground and gently dropping them. Atlas's whole body glowed bright, and suddenly he faded into thin air.

"Whoa! Now what?!" Noel asked. Pieces of rubble appeared out of nowhere and the ruins repaired themselves, turning back to the way they were before. "The paradox is dissipating!" Serah said in wonder, looking around. It was indeed, and in a flash of series of gravestones appeared behind the area where Atlas had been standing. "A graveyard?" Noel asked, and Serah said "Hey, wait a minute. This is the graveyard that Alyssa was looking for!" Upon hearing that Noel pulled his communicator out, and said "Alyssa! We took Atlas down. That place you were looking for is right in front of us." She responded "_That's great news! I'm on my way!_" While we waited for her Serah said "I wonder what caused the paradox effect."

"This is just a theory, but I think there might be someone out there derailing history and bending the timeline. That's why Atlas and these gates are appearing out of nowhere," Noel announced. Although I knew the truth, I played dumb and said "Is that Cocoon doesn't exist in the future?" "You mean, the reality I lived in was a result of someone twisting the timeline? It's certainly possible," he said. With that we walked towards the graveyard, and noticed a white stone pillar that was relatively newer than the others. I also noticed an inscription, and asked "Hey, what's that?" We moved to where it could be read, and Noel said "It's an epitaph.'Here lie the innocent victims of chance, cast out and cast down. Maybe there souls find the path that leads them home.'"

"Cast out... These must be victims of the Purge," Serah said, a sad look appearing in her eye. I looked at her, but before anything could be said Alyssa ran up. "This is it! This the place!" she said, walking past to read the list of names. After a second she fell to her knees, reaching towards it. "I thought it might be... But that's not my name," she said. "Then, whose is it?" Serah asked. It's my friend's. She died here. Running from the Purge," Alyssa said, before standing up. "And me? I'm one of those who survived. Five years ago, the entire town of Bodhum- it was wiped out by the army. I was there, visiting my friend. Then everything went to hell. We ran and hid with the other fugitives. But just as the troops were pulling out...That's when the ceiling of our hiding place collapsed," she told us.

I didn't know what to say; despite my dislike for Alyssa it was hard actually hearing her tell us her story. She took a deep breath. "Ever since then, I've had the same dream. I'm trapped under rubble. It's dark, I'm in pain, and I can barely breathe. The next thing I know, I rise out of my body, and I'm standing before this grave. And the name written on the stone... It's mine." After that her voice grew more frantic and she began waving her arms. "After seeing that image so many times, I started to think that maybe I did die back then. And the life I'm living now is just an illusion!" she said. "Alyssa, you feel that way too?" Serah asked. I looked at both of them, sharing in their sadness, until Noel walked up and poked Alyssa on the side of the head.

"Well... you seem real to me," he said. I cracked a smile and even Alyssa did too. "Real enough, I guess," she said. She went back to the grave and sat down. We began to walk away, but both Serah and I could hear her say "Even if they all forget... I never will." Serah gasped beside me, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me, and I could see the guilt in her eyes. I knew what she was thinking: the events that scarred Alyssa were started by l'Cie, such as me and her. Serah thought that if she hadn't become a l'Cie, then the Purge may never have happened. "Don't think like that. Even if it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. And then it still would have happened," I said. She smiled sadly and nodded, and we left the area of the graveyard.

"Okay, I think that wraps things up for Alyssa. Now for our little quest," Noel announced. "Right," Serah said. "Next we open a gate. Now that the paradox had been resolved, it's possible those sneaky artefacts have come out of hiding," he reminded us. I crossed my arms. "But then here should we look?" I asked. "Um... I can use my moogle magic, kupo!" Mog told us. Serah looked at him. "You can? Mog, you're a lifesaver!" she said happily. "So, where might an artefact be?" I asked. Mog turned away and waved his staff, and the crystal attached to his head began glowing. "Kuuupooo!" he called and a wave of energy spread out from it. I could feel reality being distorted, or rather it was as if a piece of it was being brought back from another dimension.

Then suddenly, there was a flash of light and an artefact appeared behind a tree. "There it is!" Noel called, and Serah said "That's my Mog!" "Kupo!" he replied. I walked towards the artefact and took hold of it, turning around and showing it to the others. It showed two tree branches weaving together and holding a green crystal. "Now that we have the artefact. Let's open that gate. How about that one we saw on the way here?" I suggested. They both nodded and we backtracked, and when we reached the gate Serah held the artefact up to it. It flashed and disappeared, and the gate opened and began spinning. "Yes! It worked!" Noel said excitedly.

Serah didn't say anything, and when I looked at her she had a vacant yet pained expression on her face. "Serah? Serah, you okay?" I asked, shaking her arm. She blinked and gasped, looking at me. "It's nothing. I'm fine, really. Just tired, I guess," she said. Noel looked ahead. "Hm, right. Somehow I kind of doubt it's 'nothing'," he muttered, but only I heard him. We rose into the air and went through the gate, turning back to Historia Crux. The four of us flew through the crossroads of space-time, and Serah said "I hope we'll land right in the place where Lightning is waiting." She looked at each of us. "Where do you think we'll end up this time? The future? The past?" Noel smiled. "I have no idea. With all this jumping back and forth I have no idea which is which anymore," he said.

Serah and I laughed, and he continued. But that past is what defines us, makes us who we are. The future we're aiming for, that's the thing we can change. No matter bad things have been, without the past I wouldn't be who I am now." "That makes sense," Serah said, and I added "I guess so." "So Serah, you shouldn't feel like you're wasting your time. Even if we don't arrive in Valhalla there's still value in every path we take," Noel said. I nodded. "He's right, at the very least every step brings us closer," I said. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right," she said. Noel chuckled. "But hey, I wouldn't complain if we do end up there. All this running around is exhausting," he said. Serah laughed. "Hey, make up your mind!" she half-lectured.

Noel laughed, before looking ahead. "Just be honest with yourself. If you are you'll be sure to arrive in the future you want," he said. Serah nodded, and I called "Speaking of futures, look there!" and pointed. The air in front of us split open like it did before, indicating that we were near a gate that would take us o another time period. "Ready?" I asked, and Serah and Noel nodded. "Then here we go!" I said, and flew towards it.

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**Episode 3 Part 1**

**Prophecy of Hope**

**Yaschas Massif 010 AF**

_People always say the future will be better. They believe the hardships of the present fade with the passage of time. And so we hope, waiting for a future brighter than today. But Serah, Deiru, remember this... As you walk towards a brighter tomorrow, you have to look back to your past. The path you have walked to reach the here and now will give you the courage you need to hope._

The four us exited the gate and landed soundly, this time not falling on our rear ends. Around us was a large mountainous terrain that could only exist on Pulse, but the details of it were hard to pick out. The entire landscape was dark, and even though the sun was in the sky a large dark shape floated in front of it, completely blocking any and all light. "It's so dark," Serah said, stating the obvious. "In ancient times, the fal'Cie devoured the light, darkness cloaked the sky and the world knew only night. This must be the eclipse," Noel said. "You know what this is?" she asked. "I do too. They said that five-hundred years before Noel's era a massive fal'Cie named Fenrir appeared in the sky. Its size was such that it blocked out the entire sun, and for a long time everything went dark," I explained.

"If that happened five-hundred years in your past, then this must be two hundred years in my future," Serah theorized. Noel nodded. "Right. But something's wrong. Look, the eclipse of affecting only this area. That shouldn't be possible," he pointed out. "Okay, so you you're saying this could be… a paradox?" Serah asked. "That's what I'm saying," he replied. "If this is paradox, then there must be something that we can do to solve it. Let's look around and see if there's anything else wrong," I suggested. We were in agreement, and started forward until we came across a researcher. "Hello. Are you here to observe any the facility? I can answer any questions you might have," he said.

"Ah, yeah, perfect. I do have questions. Where are we? And what year is it?" Noel asked. "Wait, you can't just- Noel!" Serah said, grabbing his arm. I laughed and shook my head in amazement. I could be a rather direct person at times, but when it came to asking straight-up questions it looked like Noel took the cake. Rather than look at us confusedly, the researcher sighed patiently and said "Yaschas Massif, 10 AF, sir." "10 AF? So nowhere near two hundred years," Serah concluded. "I must say, this is the first time anyone had asked me what year it is. I don't suppose you happen to be time travelers?" "Maybe," I said. "But how would you know that time travel even exists?"

He chuckled. "Such a subject has become relentlessly studied ever since an occurrence five years ago at the Bresha Ruins. Some of our more applied researches wished that they actually could find a way to travel," he explained. I chuckled humorlessly, and we took a map the researcher offered us and moved forward. Time travel was not something to be done in any case scenario, even if in the name of science. A single altercation to the timeline could cause unheard of ramifications. Like killing a butterfly in the past and returning to the present. The only reason Noel, Serah, Mog and I were doing so now was to solve someone else's interfering.

Little did I know, one of those very people were watching us from a cliff high above and smiled sadistically. "So, the little pests managed to defeat both Gogmagog and Atlas," he said. Caius Ballad stepped forward and looked down as well. "You told me that both of those paradoxes would be strong enough to destroy them," he said, glaring at both him and them. The silver-haired man just smiled wider. "Fear not. I have just the beast that, unless they receive outside help, is guaranteed to rid them of their existence," he said. Before Caius could question him further the man sped off, heading farther into the Massif so he could have time to summon his beast.

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What oh what, could this stranger be planning to have Deiru and the others face? And just who is he anyway? We'll find out both soon enough, so stay tuned!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.10 Hope

(Point of View Change: Stranger)

I stood on a high ledge high above the Paddra Ruins, watching various humans mill about below. I knew that Deiru once fought an Undying Cie'th by the name of Bituitus here, and that girl, Vanille, had fought alongside him against it. But now Vanille was gone, one of the three women trapped within the crystal pillar that held up Cocoon. At the thought I smiled; they had only postponed the End of Days. Now they were unable to help, and once I destroyed Serah, Noel and Deiru no one would be able to stand in my way. History itself would be destroyed, and the order of reality along with it. All I had to was summon a beast to destroy them. So, with that, I rose my sword into the air and willed my powers to come forth. As usual controlling my powers was like trying to hold a swirling maelstrom, a writhing fish and a snapping wolf all together in one place; no easy task.

But my will was iron, and I succeeded. Reaching into the Void Beyond with my mind, I found just the monster I was looking for and called out to it. "Come forth, giant of otherworldly might. Soon to come are three humans who stood in the company of your greatest foe, Gogmagog," I chanted. The beast reacted with surprise and rage, and I smiled. "Yes, they stood in the same place as your hated rival. Now they move towards this place, where you may be free to unleash your wrath upon them! Will you not serve my will and carry out the task of destroying them?" I asked. The beast roared and agreed; anything to allow it escape from the Void Beyond and attack these humans that had been with Gogmagog. "Very well then. Now, come forth... Aloeidai," I commanded, and pointed my sword at the ground below.

xxx

(Point of View Change: Deiru)

I grunted, frustrated that our progress through the ruins had come to an abrupt halt. We were about to enter the main section of the ruins when we were stopped by a guard. Apparently, since we weren't Academy officials we couldn't her the part that was being investigated. "Are we not allowed inside?" Serah asked. "I'm very sorry. Only persons on official Academy business are permitted beyond this point," the female guard said. "Oh," Serah replied, and I grunted angrily. Then suddenly a giant monster appeared farther in. It was identical to Gogmagog, only this one was black with blue eyes and purple veins. "Look out!" I called, and she turned around. "S-Security!" she said, and Noel ran forward. "Maybe this will count as official business!" he said, and drew his sword.

Serah and I ran past the guard and drew our weapons as well, while Aloeidai roared. "Yeah, yeah. Come and get us!" I called, casting Fira and Blizzara before sending both spells his way. The beast cast Causality Barrier and shielded itself, and my two spells exploded against the edges of the shield. "It's like before! We have to break its barrier!" Serah said. Noel and I nodded and switched to casting magic, while Aloeidai cast Deprotectga. We were all hit with the spell and our defenses lowered, but I shrugged it off and fired a trio of Fire spells. Noel jumped up and threw his larger sword, which was filled with electricity. It sailed through the air until it hit the barrier, and let out countless amps of power.

The barrier shattered from the current and Aloedai used Swipe again, hitting us all in one blow. Serah brought out her crystal and summoned Cait Sith to heal us while we ran forward, and I jumped up. Grasping Indomitus with both hands I swung down and hit the beast in the shoulder, going halfway through when my sword stopped. I pulled it back out and tar-like blood ran along the edge of the blade, which I cleaned off with a water spell. Serah fired an arrow and it planted itself in the giant's arm before fading, and the beast cast Ruinga in retaliation. The spell exploded in the air above us and sent out a wave of energy that knocked us into the air, but I flipped over and landed on my feet with enough time to cast a Ruinga spell of my own before it restored its barrier.

"Can't even fight us without a shield, huh you coward?" I taunted, running forward and casting Firaga. A ball of flame shot forward and exploded hard enough to heat up the ground around us, while also driving up the chain gauge. Serah fired an arrow and it created a crack in the shield, which Noel was quick to force a Water spell through. Aloeidai cast Deshellga and made us all weaker to magic, which he followed up with Ruinga. "Come on!" Noel called, and threw his sword again. This time however it anticipated the trick and used Swipe, knocking his larger sword away until it landed on the ground. While Noel ran after it Serah cast Fire and Ruin, trying to keep the stagger gauge both increasing and maintained.

"Let me help you with that," I said, and ran forward. I jumped up and spun my sword in my hand before slamming down, but my shield just struck sparks off the barrier. "Or maybe not," I amended, landing back down and dodging another Swipe. "How can we not have staggered him yet?" Noel asked, picking up his fallen sword. Just as he said that though Serah cast another Fire spell, and the giant's body began glowing golden as it's barrier vanished. "Alright, here we go!" I said, pointing my sword at Aloeidai and firing a barrage of Ruins. Serah pulled her bow back and waited for a few seconds, gathering strength until the entire arrow pulsed with energy. Then she fired it, and the arrow went clean through its arm without even leaving a scratch behind.

That didn't stop Aloeidai from roaring in pain, and just as Cait Sith and I were healing everyone of their status ailments it used Landshatter. It slammed its hand against the ground and pillars of earth erupted from it, nearing impaling me with one while I tried to avoid another. Noel and Serah weren't as I lucky though, and they both shouted they were slashed with countless rocks and other various items. Aloeidai didn't relent either, and began attacking as soon as it's barrier was back up. I grunted in pain as I was hit with another swipe, and called "This thing is really to piss me off!" "No kidding!" Serah added. "Then why don't we do something about it?" Noel, asked, smiling. Not sure what he had in mind but placing our trust in him, Serah and I nodded.

He ran forward and placed his smaller sword back in its sheath, before casting Fire after Fire until the metal flames of his larger sword glowed as if they were real. "Serah! Cast as cold a Blizzard spell as you! Deiru, you do the same with Thunder!" he said. I nodded and drew forth as much of my strength and focus as I could, gathering it all into one single spell and calling "Thundaga!" A bolt of lightning large and powerful enough to be life-size fired from my hand, while Serah cast a chunk of ice the size of a couch. The two spells both hit Noel's sword and the same time and the sword _absorbed_ them, causing it to flash red, blue and yellow from all three elements of magic stored in it.

Now that it was done, Noel ran forward and turned his sword into its javelin form. "It's over!" he called, and threw it straight at the beast. It met resistance with the barrier, but all three of our attacks in one made it punch through, and the javelin pierced Aloeidai in the chest before unleashing all of its contained energy. The beast howled in agony as it was electrocuted, before its skin was burnt even further black and ending with its blood being almost frozen solid. Seeing that it was about to die, Aloeidai waved its arm and the whole in space around it suddenly grew, accompanied by a gale-force wind that drew all around it closer. Including us. "It's pulling us in!" Noel called, and I stabbed my sword into the ground to brace myself.

Noel turned his javelin back into a sword and did the same, but before Serah could do the same she was lifted into the air. I caught her just in time and she held on, but the force of Aloeidai's last move was too strong. I could feel her grip and mine slipping... slipping... slipping... Then, just as she was pulled away a boomerang flew out nowhere and hit the beast in the side, creating a burst of electricity. It flew back around and did it again twice, and the force of the spell vanished as Aloeidai faded out of existence. Serah landed back on the ground and I helped her to her feet, while the owner of the boomerang caught it and put it away. "When monsters like this are defeated, they cause a space-time vortex to appear. An electromagnetic shock usually shuts them down." He smiled. "It's been a long time, Serah, Deiru."

My eye widened, and Serah took the words out of my mouth by saying "Hope? Is that you?" It was Hope indeed, only ten years older. He still retained the blue-green eyes and slim build that had before only now Hope was tall, maybe even as tall as me, and his silver hair was ever so slightly longer. He wore a long-sleeve white coat shirt with yellow sleeves and a light blue necktie. He also had on light gray pants, black boots, and supply pouches along his waist and his left shoulder. Hope smiled. "I'm glad you remember me," he said. "I just have have one thing to say: You've gotten taller," I said. He chuckled. "I have, thankfully," he said, and his voice was a smidgeon deeper as well.

"Who's this?" Noel asked, and I looked at him, surprised. Hope stepped forward and shook his hand. "Director of Academy Research, Team Alpha. Hope Estheim, at your service. And you, you must be Noel," he said formally. "Nice guess. Who told you?" Noel asked. "You appeared with Serah and Deiru some years ago at the Bresha Ruins. Subsequently, we analyzed the gate and forecast your appearance at this location. To be honest, I didn't really believe that time travel was possible. But here you are," he said. He grasped Serah's hand. "I'm really glad you're safe," he told us. "How is it that you've gotten so older?" Serah asked. He looked at her confusedly. "It's 10 AF, so I've aged ten years since I was a l'Cie," he pointed out.

Getting the point, I said "That means that it's been years since you last saw Serah and I." "Not just the two of you. Snow as well. And Sazh and his boy. You all disappeared from my life," he said. "Oh. I never thought..." Serah began. "When the paradox occurred, I thought that if I solved it, maybe you would all come back," Hope told us. We didn't know what to say, but we were spared that by Alyssa, who suddenly ran up gasping. "Director Hope! There you are! What were you thinking? Take off and leaving me all on my own," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Okay, and I guess Alyssa's here too. Why?" I asked. She giggled. "After you all appeared in ruins and helped solve the paradox, I made that big discovery I was hoping for!" she said. "Now Alyssa is my personal assistant," Hope said.

We began walking, and Serah told Hope everything that had happened to us up until then. About how only Serah remembered me and Lightning being there after Cocoon almost fell, how Snow set out to try and find a way to save Lightning, Vanille, Fang and Sofia. And she told him about Noel, and about how I came from Valhalla and he came from the future. "Tell me Hope, what made you join the Academy?" she finally asked. "A sense of duty. Vanille, Fang, Sofia, Lightning... They turned to crystal so that we might live. It was an enormous sacrifice," he told us. "My sister and the others... I think they wanted to preserve life. They gave us a chance to live again," Serah said. "That's what they had in mind- giving us a chance," I said. "They put the future in our hands. We're in a position to build a society based on human technology, no longer subject to the whim of the fal'Cie. That's the gift we've been given," Hope said.

"What about the Academy? How are things going?" Serah asked. "I'd say the institution had grown considerably since we last met," Alyssa informed us. "Our dream of creating a society independent of the fal'Cie is slowly but surely becoming a reality. We're seeing all previous opposition fade away, and people are coming together under the leadership of the Academy," Hope said. "That's great. It's good to hear that the future is in safe hands," I said. We reached a guard holding gun across his chest and wearing stern expression but it softened when he saw Hope with us. "Guests of yours, Director? Watch your step in there," he advised us, and stepped aside. "Thank you," Hope replied, walking through. "I have a question: isn't the Academy a research institute? And if it is, they why all the armed security?" I asked.

"Without the fal'Cie around, we have to be able to protect ourselves. And that means guns," Alyssa said. "The time distortions spawn hostile creatures. Until we can resolve the paradox, we need military force to repel threats. These armed patrols are essential to our safety," Hope explained. We stopped, and Hope said "It's hard to believe it's really been ten years. So much time has passed." "Hey, do you still think that Lightning is inside the crystal pillar?" I asked. "I always had doubts. And I wasn't the only one. Sazh had them as well," he replied. "Really? Sazh too?" Serah asked. "Yes. He couldn't believe that Lightning would 'up and leave Serah like that'. After all, she was the one who said that we shouldn't face things alone, that we should stick together," Hope said.

"Whatever happened to Sazh? And his son, Dajh?" I asked. "We've been out of touch. Sazh took Dajh to live on gran Pulse, and was flying airships the last I heard. Then suddenly, they both disappeared. I... I searched everywhere but never found them," he admitted, sounding ashamed. "Look at us- all gone our separate ways," Serah pointed out. "Yes, and I can't tell you how much it means to have you here now. Lightning, Sazh and Snow may have set out on different paths, but I've started to think that in the end, we're all headed towards the same goal," Hope said. We were all silent for a moment, as Serah couldn't think of anymore questions. Then I said "These ruins, they're some kind of ancient city, right?"

"The city of Paddra. Or so we believe. It was the center of a great kingdom built by a nation known as the 'Farseers'," Hope explained. "The Farseers?!" Noel asked, looking at him with his eyes wide. "You're telling me there use to be enough of them to build this entire town?" Slightly surprised, Hope answered "According to our research, we believe they constructed an entire nation. A polity ruled a seeress." Noel stared out in the remains of the city. "Can you see me now? Standing here in this place..." he said quietly. Serah and I looked at him, but when he didn't seem to snap out of it Serah asked Hope "So, this nation... Paddra? Their leader was a seeress, right?" "Yes. The seeress would read the fates, see the future, and guide her country," he replied. I heard Noel mutter "Yeul..." and looked at him. He was still in a trance, but I wondered whether he had heard us or not.

Far above, on a ledge that could only be seen by the people below if they looked precisely for it, Caius turned away from the spectacle and glared at the silver-haired man. "That makes three. Three times that you've either a monster or created a paradox that was supposed to destroy them, and they failed. I'm beginning to doubt as to whether you are as strong as you say," he said. The man shrugged. "I said that the monster was guaranteed to destroy them _if they didn't receive outside help_. And that was precisely what happened," he reminded Caius. The girl who stayed with them walked forward. "Your tongue is as silver as you hair," she remarked.

The man laughed. "Wisely said," he replied. "You realize that for every challenge they overcome the three of them grow stronger?" Caius asked. The man's smile faded, and he glared at Caius. "I'm well aware of that, Ballad. If it bothers you that much, they will soon travel through history again. And when they do reach their next destination, we can deal with them ourselves," the man said. Although that did not satisfy him, it did leave Caius content enough to grunt and walk away, the girl following him. The man watched them go and sighed. "Must I deal with these humans for much longer?" he asked aloud, looking at the sky. As usual the gods gave him no answer, but that was alright. He would not have to stay with them forever, only until Deiru, Noel and Serah were killed or removed from history. Then the Day of Wrath would come.

xxx

Yay! Hope's back, and the monster summoned by the stranger has been defeated. But why else would Hope be here in the ruins, and what did the man mean when he said they could deal with them themselves?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

**Notice**: I will be skipping the part where you must solve all the paradox mazes. I apologize if this displeases you.

Ch.11 Truths

Hope extended his hand and said "Here". "Thanks," Serah replied, taking it and hauling herself up. By now we had reached the command center, and Hope said "You've traveled through time. I suppose it's not surprising you know about these things. The power to rule was passed down from one seeress to the next. She was always called 'Yeul'." "If they could read time, then why did they die out? Surely they could have seen the danger coming, and done something to avoid it," Serah pointed out. "That's the thing. In the end, the nation of the Farseers died _because_ they could see the future," I said. She looked at me confusedly, and Hope explained "The seeress Yeul foresaw the destruction of this city. Some citizens wanted to try to avert the disaster. Others felt that they should simply abandon their homes and run.

"A few fell into despair, and took their own lives. The divided populace clashed. The nation was torn apart by civil war." "Being able to see the future is awfully dangerous. It can mess with people's heads," Alyssa said. "Tell me about. The nation fell apart, and the survivors fled into the wild-lands, avoiding contact with others," Noel said. "Huh? So you know the story?" Hope asked. Before he could answer Alyssa tugged on his arm, saying "Oh! Come on, Director Hope! I want to show them! It's okay to show them, right?" He nodded and waved his hand, and we walked to the table to see a strange device sitting there. It was a hexahedron that was dark green in color, with yellow lines on the edges. "Here, this is what lies at the heart of our paradox. The Oracle Drive. We've been giving it careful study," Hope said.

"But, how did you-?!" Noel began, steeping forward and staring at it. "Wait, you know of these things?" Hope asked. "Oh, uh... yeah. I've- I've heard about them. In... books and stuff," he replied. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Noel, but his expression was careful to show no emotion. Intrigued but seeing no answers, I looked back at Hope. "The Oracle Drive appears to be some sort of recording apparatus from ancient times. We've excavated a number of the devices. However, the recording depicts... things that cannot be possible," he said. "What do you mean impossible?" I asked. "Perhaps you should see for yourself," he said. Noel stepped forward. "This is how it works," he said, wand placed his hand in the air over it.

A beam of light shot from the Oracle Drive and shone in the air, projecting a series of images. There was Ragnarok standing on top of Edenhall, the fall of Cocoon, and of Lightning standing beneath the plain. On the last one both Serah and I gasped. They images faded and Hope said "The device was excavated from an ancient part of the ruins. We used carbon dating methods to determine the age. The device and the recording stored within are several centuries old." "But it shows Lightning..." Serah said. "Someone in the past recorded this vision of the future. Perhaps it was seeress Yeul herself. What concerns us however, is this. You'll have to excuse the image quality," he said, and activated the device.

A new set of images occurred, only they were grainy and unfocused, the barest details visible. But even that was enough. I saw Lightning and I fighting in Valhalla, watching up as Caius summoned a giant meteorite. Then there was the three of us going back and forth, giving blows and receiving them. The projection disappeared, and Serah asked "Was that my sister?" "Yes, I think so. We need to conduct further analysis to be certain," he replied. "Is it broken?" Noel asked. "No, we tested the device and the data and everything is nominal. Yet, when we try to view the recording, we get this. Perhaps it's not the device that's broken, but the immediate spacetime in which we are located," Hope hypothesized.

"You mean it could be the paradox. Because the surrounding spacetime is twisted, that might be directly affecting the device. So if the paradox is eliminated, then spacetime will return to normal. Then we could see the prophecy and find out where my sister is!" Serah said excitedly. "Kupo!" Mog said in agreement. "Yes, I believe so," Hope replied. "That's great!" I said. Hope nodded and reached behind him, handing us... an artefact! "Here. This object serves a key, is that right? We tried to make it work ourselves, but with no success," he said. "Yeah, we can use that to travel across time," Noel told him. "Then you may have it. It will be far more useful to you then us. Here," he said, handing the artefact to me.

I smiled, but then realized that while Hope was here, I could ask him a few things. "Hey Serah, Noel? You guys go on ahead; I want to talk to Hope about something," I requested. They looked at me, confused, but nodded while Mog flew behind. "What is it?" Hope asked. "Can we speak somewhere a little more... private?" I asked, glancing over at curious face of Alyssa. He nodded and we walked off, reaching a part of the ruins that once may have been a small pavilion, but now stood empty. "Is there something wrong?" Hope pressed. I sighed. "Not really, just wanted to talk to an old friend," I admitted, looking away sheepishly. He laughed. "It's been ten years, not fifty. We're not old yet," he pointed out. I smiled. "True enough."

"So how have things been going with you? If I remember correctly, everyone thought that you had disappeared along with Lightning that day," Hope asked. "I was pulled into the same place as Lightning. We had to protect something there, and that's why we couldn't leave. But then Noel appeared, and Light told me to help him find Serah and bring her there. I didn't want to go, but she didn't leave me much choice," I said. Hope smiled sadly. "Yeah, that's Lightning for you. Sure miss her. And not just her, but Vanille, Fang, Sofia and the others," he said. At that I remembered something that I had imagined a long time ago, but passed it off as ridiculous. Now was the time to see if I was right.

"What do you miss most about them? The three inside the pillar that is," I asked. Hope looked up at the sky, thinking. "I miss the way Fang was always strong. From the time we met in Palumpolum, Fang always tried to stay vigilant. That kind of courage gave me strength. And Sofia, she was with us for less time than anyone. But she adapted to life on the run so easily, and even made herself stronger to face it. That was what I had tried to do, and she showed me it could be done," Hope told me. I smiled mischievously and said "And what about Vanille?" Hope sighed and kept staring ahead. "Vanille... was my best friend. Always cheerful, trying to keep the rest of the group up even when she was down too. She was a lot stronger than I could be, and when we were alone it made me happy to see her smile. I miss her, maybe even more than I do the others," he admitted.

I grinned hugely. "I knew it! You _do_ like her!" I exclaimed. Hope snapped out of his thoughts and looked at me, cheeks reddening. "What? No! I don't like her... like that! She's my friend, that's all!" he protested. While his face grew redder my smile grew wider. "Don't try and hide it Hope- you are a horrible liar. You really liked Vanille, didn't you?" I asked. He looked at me for a long moment before sighing, turning away. "Yeah, you got me. I liked Vanille, a lot. And as more than a friend," he conceded. My smiled stopped growing and turned content. "That's what I wanted to know," I said, before standing up. "Well, Serah and Noel are probably wondering why I'm taking so long. I'd best be on my way," I said.

Hope nodded and stood waving. "See ya. Just don't tell anyone about that. Please!" he called. I laughed loudly. "Don't worry, I won't tell Serah or Noel," I promised, breaking into a run and sprinting away. Though I might tell Vanille if I ever saw her again. Various monsters tried to stop me, but I sent them flying with blasts of Aero spells. I reached the gate and Noel folded his arms. "What were you guys talking about? You were here forever," he asked. I smirked and said "Oh, nothing you need to worry about. Come on, let's get through that gate." He looked at me, but Serah nodded and held the artefact up. The gate absorbed it and opened, and we went through.

**Oerba 200 AF**

The four of us jumped out of the gate and landed on a stone street covered in a fine layer of crystal dust. I gasped, I knew where we were. This was Oerba, Fang and Vanille's homeland and the last place we stayed on Pulse during our journey as l'Cie. But although I recognized the place, it looked completely different. The sky was a swirl of blue and gray, and ahead the world just plain ended, replaced by a bottomless void through which light and cosmos swirled. "What's happening? The world is... falling apart," Serah said. "Is this a future where everything has been destroyed? Or is it a distant past before the world came into being?" Noel wondered. "Spacetime is doubled over and twisted on itself. The past and future are tangled together as one, kupo!" Mog explained.

"The paradox is affecting spacetime itself," Serah said in wonder. "Right. And we have to find out what's causing this," Noel said. The three of us looked at each other and nodded, running ahead.

xxx

After we solved the various mazes that the paradox had spawned the village returned to its original self. We began searching the village for artefacts, and ended up on the roof of the abandoned schoolhouse. Flowers still grew here despite the passage of time, and another object sat on a pedestal in the center of the area. The minute I saw it my eye widened, and I said "It that another Oracle Drive?" We walked towards it and Noel said "Yeah, it is." Serah reached for it, but then we heard a voice behind us say "Stop." We gasped and turned, but it was too late; Serah had activated the drive. Light burst out and formed a series of images, one that I knew from memory.

_A pair of figures were walking in our direction, and I heard a young voice say "And, and, and there a whole big bunch of chocobo there!" "Really?" we heard a female voice say, and their faces became clear. It was Dajh and Serah. Snow said "Serah," and ran forward, and Lightning smiled happily. "It is." Sazh ran forward and called "Dajh!" "Daddy!" Dajh called, running into his father. "Snow!" Serah called, and he replied "Serah!" Both groups laughed happily, and Snow asked "You're okay, are you?" "Yeah, I'm fine!" she replied. Hope looked at them, but his gaze rose to the pillar and he asked "They're gone, aren't they?" I placed a hand on his shoulder, and I said "Don't worry; they'll be back one day. I made sure of it." _

_ He looked at me and smiled, and Serah ran in front of us. She was about to hug Lightning when she saw me, and asked "I'm sorry, I don't think we've ever formally met. Who are you?" I smiled and bowed elegantly, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "Deiru Tamashi, at your humble service m'lady," I said, standing. "And I... Well, to put it blunt, I'm currently in a relationship with your sister," I said simply. "Deiru!" Lightning called, her face turning crimson. Rather than being shocked, Serah laughed and said "No, it's okay; I'm glad actually. It's good to know that Claire's finally found someone." Lightning looked at her, and embraced her saying "Serah, I'm sorry." They pulled back and she said "It's okay," before they were interrupted by Snow._

_ "Hey, come on, the apologies can wait! We've got a wedding to plan! You are gonna allow it, right?" he asked. "Snow, you don't waste time do you?" Hope asked, slightly exasperated. "No, I don't," he replied, and Sazh added "That's right! Just charge in, guns blazing!" "And damn the consequences. After all, it usually works with head as solid as granite," I pointed out. Snow let that go by, looking to Lightning and saying "I swear to you, I will make happy." Lightning nodded. "I believe you."_

Serah fell to her knees, white with shock. "The prophecy... it's been changed!" she announced. I looked at her. "But that's impossible," Noel began, before we heard the voice of Caius Ballad call "If you change the future, you change the past." We looked up to see him in the image of the projection, standing his back to us. "It keeps changing?" Serah asked. He scoffed and looked back. "Change is the constant," he said, turning and slashing his sword through the projection. I realized that he wasn't in it, merely standing behind it. And now Caius was standing right in front of us. "Caius!" Noel said, standing in front of Serah and moving into a battle pose. The girl from before walked forward and said "I have seen you. I have seen you both."

She appeared to be a young teenager with a lean and petite frame, but her green eyes held a sense of ancient wisdom. She had long dark-blue hair, kept up by a diadem with a veil except for two long strands that framed her face. The girl wore a white halter-top with a circular opening above her chest which held a small shining crystal. On her lower half she had on a wrap around white skirt that changed to purple the farther it went down, ending halfway to her knees. She wore numerous bracelets, armbands on her biceps, beaded necklaces and a pair of bright yellow moccasin boots. Noel gasped and ran in front of her, grabbing her shoulders. "Yeul?!" he asked, and I gasped. "What? You mean the seeress?" Serah asked.

"I am not the Yeul you know," she said. "But..." Noel muttered, but she walked past him to stand beside Caius. "You must understand. There are many Yeuls," he said. "Wait. I saw you. My sister and Deiru were fighting you," Serah said. "What are you doing here in this time?" Noel asked. "I learned of your journey, leaping back and forth along the timeline. Yeul has been watching everything you do," he told us. "No, she's been watching us?" Noel asked, aghast. "Yes. I see you understand the significance of that. Then you must also understand that I am here for a reason. You actions have necessitated the strongest sanctions," he said, raising his sword. The eidolith within glowed, and Yeul walked backwards to get away from the impending battle.

"Wait Caius, there's something I want to know," I said. He raised an eyebrow and glared at me. "And what might that be?" he asked. "All these paradoxes until now, they were a lot stronger than they were supposed to be. Gogmagog should have been weak enough that Serah and Noel could have defeated it by themselves; I wasn't supposed to need Regnuma to defeat Atlas. Even Aloeidai was more powerful than usual. Why is that? You wouldn't make those beasts appear with any more power than what was necessary. So why do anything different?" I asked. He was silent, and I gasped in realization. "There's someone else working with you, isn't there? Someone else who wants the same thing as you," I said.

Again he said nothing, but then a piercing cold laugh sounded through the air, even though the source was nowhere to be seen. "Looks like they figured it out didn't they, Caius?" the voice asked. Serah and Noel looked around while I froze, horror flooding through me. I knew that voice. It was the voice of a dead man. The ground shook as the clouds overhead darkened and rumbled, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky to strike the ground in front of us. The three of us covered our eyes to block the light, and when it faded someone was standing in front of us. Someone that had died a long time ago. "Uried…" I breathed.

Uried smiled, showing perfect teeth with a pair of thin, two-inch long fangs. He was tall, as tall as Snow and even wider in frame. His skin was bleach-white and corded with muscle, while his hair was spiky and silver with blood-red eyes. He wore a suit of armor similar to the one I had worn in Valhalla, only it was ebon black and lined with silver, with snow white feathers attached to the arms and the gloves end in curved claws. "I'm glad that you remember me, Deiru. It's been, at least in this time period, about two-hundred years," he said, his voice as cold as his laugh. "Deiru, who is this guy?' Serah asked. "This Uried, an alter ego of mine that managed to escape when we fought to save Cocoon. But how can you be here? I used my Lunar Blade technique on you; I _watched _your body shattered into countless pieces and burn into nonexistence!" I said.

"Ah, but you forgetting one thing: I am an entity born and create from the chaos of Valhalla. So when a being of chaos dies, where would their spirit go? Back to the chaos," Uried reminded me. I gasped. "And when Caius was in Valhalla…" I said, realization hitting me. He nodded. "Caius sensed me within the unending sea and lent me a fraction of his power, which I then used to pull the shattered pieces of my spirit back together. And once my spirit was whole, I could use the chaos to make myself a new body," he said, sounding utterly triumphant. I looked at him with shock, until he raised his hand over his head and sword appeared in it in a blaze of darkness. It was like a Japanese katana, only straight rather than curved and six feet long. The edge was finely serrated, and along the blade was writing in Etro Script it said "_Forged in storm, a blade of tyranny. Destroying all in its path, the sword Calamity._"

I shifted from shock to hatred and drew my sword, while Serah and Noel readied their weapons as well. "Sorry to tell you, but that new body is about to be destroyed!" I called, charging forward.

xxx

The silver-haired man has been identified. Now that Uried has appeared, will our heroes be able to defeat both him _and_ Caius? Find out next chapter!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.12 Altercations

The moment I ran forward Uried's smile faded, and both he and Caius charged forward. "Time to die!" I said, and he replied "Not today!" Both our swords clashed and sparks flew, the serrated edge of Calamity scraping against Indomitus. We broke out of the lock and both switched to Synergist, buffing ourselves up. While Noel and I focused on bestowing Protect, Shell, Vigilance and Veil, Serah starting targeting the both of them and inflicting various debuffs. "You will into despair!" Caius called, and he pointed his sword at her. A blast of black smoke shot out, and I pushed Serah aside to take the hit. It didn't do any damage, but I already felt myself become inflicted with Slow, Poison, Imperil and Daze. "Like that?" Uried asked, and swung while my guard was down.

Serah healed my daze just in time for me to block, and I grunted. "Shut up," I replied, and cast Thundara. Bolts of lightning shot down and hot the both of them, but the move barely hurt them. What did hurt Caius however, was Serah successfully casting Poison on him. Noel charged at him while I went for Uried. Our blades clashed again and locked, our faces inches from each others. "You don't know that you can't win. It's almost sad," Uried told me, fake-pouting. "Can't win, huh? And why's that?" I asked. "I am not the same as I was when I emerged from your body so long ago. The energies of Valhalla made me far stronger," he said smugly. I rolled my eyes; Uried was a being who loved to hear the sound of his voice. "Just be quiet and die!" I yelled, shoving him away and using Energy Arc.

He blocked them and responded in kind, while on the other side of the area Serah, Noel and Caius had gotten separated from us and were exchanging blows. "Behold the power of chaos!" Caius called, and cast Body and Soul. The move bestowed him with Haste, Bravery, Faith and Regen, and he used his increased speed to swing at Serah almost faster than the eye could see. She blocked just in time and he swung back around, catching Serah in the side hard enough to sent her skidding into a wall. "Serah!" Noel called, and dodged a blast of energy from a Graviton spell before casting a trio of Fire. The balls of flame flew towards Caius and he grunted, giving Noel the time to switch to Medic and Heal Serah.

"Your friends are almost as weak as you," Uried said, firing Black Blizzard and kicking with his metal boot. I dodged the chunk of ice and caught the foot, but then Uried jumped up and twisted around so that his other boot hit me in the face. My face was forced to the side and I faltered, a lapse in defense that Uried used to deliver a swift punch to my stomach. The wind was knocked out of me and I stepped back, but Uried didn't pursue me and instead raised his sword into the air. "Maybe you need a reminder of my strength," he said. His sword pulsed with chaotic power and I felt the air around us become charged, just before he called "Otherworld Ultima!" A sphere of black energy closed in around me before exploding, turning the air to pure heat and caching me in the center of the blast.

I shouted and reached for my sleeve, pulling it back to expose my mark. "Salvation!" I said aloud. My mark blazed with silver light and a body was wrapped in a milky white light, and my injuries were healed. Uried frowned. "I'd forgotten that the goddess gave you that power. But you won't be using it again!" he said, switching his sword to his left hand and swinging at me with his claws. I blocked them and they scraped against my sword, the sound worse than nails on a chalkboard. Uried kept his claws on my sword and channeled a Hell Thundaga spell through them, which then traveled through the metal of my sword and into my hands. My hand and arm spasmed and I gasped, dropping my sword.

I tried to reach for it but my actions were sluggish, and Uried was able to easily kick me away against a wall. I remembered now; all of Uried's spells had been altered and given power by the chaos he possessed. Not only did that Hell Thundaga inflict a lot of damage, but it also gave me both Slow and Poison. "I've got you!" Serah said, and she casting Esuna and Cura. I was able to stand and roll to the side, out of the way of Uried's sword. But then Caius switched from attacking Serah and Noel to me, and Uried went after them. Caius stabbed his sword into the ground and used Blast Wave, sending a path of destruction across the ground at me. I jumped over it and cast Firaga, creating an explosion of flames that distracted him long enough for me to grab my sword.

Caius cast Giga-Graviton and the spell exploded in the air above me, creating a blast not different from that of one made my Ruinga. Speaking of which... "Ruinga!" I called, and fired that spell at Caius. While he was blocking it and charged energy for my Destrudo spell, and just as he used Chain break to empty the chain gauge I cast it. Eight spheres of blue-white energy shot towards him, and each one exploded on contact. Caius slid back against the ground until he was a food ten feet away from me, and Uried took that moment to leap back and stand next to him. "I think it's about time we put and end to this, don't you?" he asked. Caius looked at him with distaste, but nodded and roe his sword into the air. "Together, now," he said.

I didn't know what they were about to do, but when Uried rose his sword as well so that the points were touching I knew that it wasn't good. "Everyone, go Sentinel! Now!" I ordered, and just that before casting Steelguard. The air suddenly turned sharp with the tang of ozone, and Uried smiled so that we could see both of his fangs. "That will do you no good!" he said. Energy traveled up the lengths of their weapons and a sphere the size of a beach-ball appeared where they met. "Powers of chaos, come to me now!" Caius called, and Uried said "Serve our will and bring an end to these fools!" They both pointed their swords at us and the sphere was aimed at us, and they both called "Chaos Storm!" The sphere fired at us and I held up Indomitus, and it exploded when it hit.

The explosion was ear-shattering and I temporarily went deaf, while the ground shook from the blast. Wave of black and white energy shot outwards and hit the three of us over and over, and despite our Steelguards the damage was incredible. "I can't hold my ground!" Noel said, being forced slowly across the ground by the unrelenting barrage of energy. Thankfully the explosion faded, but when it did we dropped our guards just in time to see Uried cast Dark Firaga and Caius use Blast Wave. The twin attack sent us flying and I fell to the ground while Serah and Noel landed next to me, weapons scattered. "Stop this, Caius! I'm not going to fight you," Noel said. "Times have changed. I am not the Caius you once knew," he said.

Uried smiled and stepped forward, raising his sword. "To change history is a sin," he declared. They were both about to swing down when Yeul said "It's too late. The timeline has already changed." Caius gasped and looked at her, and Uried's expression changed from one of glee to shock and anger. Yeul walked forward and Caius lowered his sword, dropping to his knees and kneeling in front of her. "But, must we accept this, Yeul?" he asked. "If you change the future, you change the past. You can remold history as your heart desires," she said in way of reply. "My desire is nothing less than their destruction!" Uried protested. She looked at him impassively, while Caius glared in fury. "From what I can see, you will battle again. You will have your chance then," she said.

That was nowhere near what Uried wanted, but he grunted angrily and dismissed his sword. Caius stood and placed his hand on her back. "Let's go now, before you are made to witness more," he said. She nodded and he waved his hand, opening a temporal rift for them to walk through. Just before he did as well, Uried looked at me and said "The next time, Deiru, I won't let it end here," and walked through. The rift closed and vanished, and we all slowly stood. A floating object appeared in their place, and Mog said "Kupo? And artefact, kupo!" Noel crossed his arms and said "What does Caius want?" "I'm not sure, but I knew that Uried wants us dead," I pointed out. "What did you do to make him hate you so much?" Serah asked.

"Back when I was a l'Cie, Uried's spirit was locked inside my body, and he was only allowed to take control when my life was in absolute danger. Problem was that once he control of a body, Uried is loathe to let it go. And twice I made him do just that. Not including when he made his own and I automatically killed him," I said. "But he has his own body now. Why would he still want to kill you?" Noel questioned. I shrugged. "Probably the same reason he's with Caius- he wants something, and we're in the way," I hypothesized. "That man, Caius. Who is he, exactly? You were fighting him in Valhalla, and I saw his face in my dream," Serah asked. "I thought I recognized him. But I don;t think he's the man I used to know. He couldn't be here... not in this time," Noel said, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself than us.

I wanted to tell them what Caius was after, but I couldn't. Not just yet. So I took the artefact and said "Come on, let's go open that gate." They all nodded and we walked away from the deserted schoolhouse, questions buzzing around in each of our heads. We found the gate by the steps that led to the lake by the village, and I held up the artefact to open it. "She was the same. The same face, the same voice. But even so... she didn't know me at all," Noel said. "You mean Yeul?" Serah asked. "Yes. Well, no questions?" he replied. She shook her head. "Seems to me that if I ask, you'd have a hard time trying to answer. I know what it's like, not being able to explain how you feel. So I won't ask," she said.

"Thanks, Serah. We'll talk about it soon," Noel promised. "Sure," she said, and I nodded. Together, the three of us walked through the gate.

xxx

**Yaschas Massif 01X AF**

We went through the gate and landed right back where we left, in the Yaschas Massif. Only I knew that this wasn't the same place we had left. Our actions had changed things. One of the prime examples was that the eclipse was gone, and sunlight poured down all around us. "The sun is back in the sky," Serah said. "The eclipse is gone... or it never existed in the first place. History here has changed," Noel said. Serah gasped. "If the paradox didn't happen, then maybe Hope never had any reason to come here," she said. "Maybe not. The Oracle Drive could have been enough to attract his attention," I pointed out. "Only one way to find out," Noel said. "Yeul said that changing the future will also change the past. Is this what she meant? The eclipse didn't happen because we solved the paradox in the future?" Serah asked.

"Maybe. But... we can't be sure," Noel replied. "But how can the altering future affect the past? I thought it was the other way around," she pressed. "Not necessarily. This is like pulling on something: when you tug one end the other moves. We use pull on the threads of reality in the past, and move things around in the future. It stands to reason that it we pulled the opposite end in the future, then things here would be altered as well," I said. The two of them thought about that, and we continued on into the landscape. The monsters were no less vicious, and despite our exhaustion we had to keep fighting in order to make it through. Then we arrived at the ruins, and saw something that cleared all thoughts from our heads and got rid of exhaustion instantly.

Yeul was standing right at the entrance.

She turned and saw us, and she said "Welcome back." "Kupo!" Mog shouted, and I stopped. "How did you...?" Noel began. "Yeul... Did you come through the gate too?" Serah asked. The girl shook her head, and I asked "Than what are you doing here?" "The one you met was a different Yeul, a Yeul from the future," she explained. "So, you don't know me, either?" Noel asked. "I know _about_ you. I've been watching all three of you," Yeul said. "You can see the future, can't you?" Serah asked. She nodded. "I can trace the timeline. I see the future, and guide others along the correct path. I came here to confirm something I already know," she said. Before we could ask what, she pointed at Serah and said "You and I are the same."

I gasped, looking at Serah as I remembered. The Eyes of Etro. "Huh? What do you mean?" Serah asked. "You, too, can show others the way," Yeul said cryptically. She began to walk away, and Serah called "Wait, I don't get it. How are we the same?" But Yeul was already gone. I looked at her, and then gazed at Serah sadly. Even now, she seemed so innocent. Unaware of the horrible truth. I sighed; I couldn't tell her. Not now. They would find out eventually. Noel, Serah and Mog all looked confused, and I said "Come on, let's see if Hope's still here or not." They agreed and followed me, and inside the ruins we found the same amount of people- if not, then more- as when we left.

Noel sighed in relief. "Good. I was afraid of what would happen if no one was here," he said. "I guess the ruins were interesting enough. They didn't need the paradox to draw them here," Serah said. I smiled. "And Hope too!" I said, pointing. We ran towards them, and basically had out ten-year reunion all over again. Hope didn't remember that we had been there before, or that the ruins had been affected by a paradox. But when we told him that those memories had been dissolved, he believed us instantly. And then... "I have something I want to show you," he said, and activated the Oracle Drive. The images were clear, and this time I could see Lightning and I battling Caius in Valhalla.

"It _is_ Lightning," Serah said. "This is a recording of the future. We're unable to identify the location or circumstances. There is one thing we are sure about, however. And remember, we don't know what era this is. Lightning is alive in that place. In my memory, Lightning disappeared after the battle with Orphan. But she's living somewhere in the future," Hope said. "So it's not just a dream," Serah said, glad. I fake growled. "I'm no dream!" I said. Hope nodded. "You're alive, and that means so is Lightning. She's out there," he promised. "Then I'm going to find her," Serah said. "And you will find her, Serah. After all, you traveled through time and found me.

"Many years of research have finally borne fruit. It all began with the Oracle Drive. We excavated it from ruins many centuries old.. ...yet it recorded an image of Cocoon supported on a pillar of crystal. It was an impossibility, an enigma. Impossible...but a reality nonetheless. This is when I learned what I must do," Hope said. "And what's that?" I asked. "If it is possible to journey through time and look into the future... then it must also be possible to travel backwards and change the past," he said. "Right," Serah agreed. "I wanted to change history, to make things better. Not just bring back Lightning. But Sofia, Vanille, and Fang... and my mother," he told us.

"So that's why you've been researching so hard," I said. Hope smiled. "Chasing the impossible, you might say. But, you've made me realize something. It's clear to me now we are not the only ones who are intervening in history. The past has already been changed. Serah, you are the only one who remembers a time when Lightning survived the fall of Cocoon..." he began. Serah was just about to agree when I saw Alyssa reaching for the Oracle Drive, and my eye widened. "Don't!" I yelled, and she jumped in surprise. But in doing so she accidentally touched it, and light shined out. "Director!" Alyssa called. Like before a projection appeared in the air, only this time it was with a different set of images. There was Lightning and I struggling in Valhalla, but then it showed something else. Something that shouldn't have been possible.

It showed Caius causing the fall of Cocoon.

xxx

The past has been changed, and now that it has what else will occur with Hope? And what other events will occur along the timeline?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.13 An Old Ally

All of us stood in shock as the new images from the Oracle Drive shown before us. This was no surprise to me, but to the others it most certainly was. Caius was being shown causing the fall of Cocoon. The images faded, and Noel said "Caius!" "What happened? Did the prophecy get rewritten?" Alyssa asked. "Not necessarily. It could be the original prophecy restored as it once was. A continuation of the first recording," Noel said. "If this is the future, then someday Cocoon will fall. Noel, you told me that in your time Cocoon doesn't exist like it does now," Serah said, realizing the implications. "You're right, Cocoon crashed into the ground long before Noel's era ever even came around. And when it did fall, the rest of the world pretty much fell apart with it," I said.

"But who made it fall? Was it actually Caius?" she asked. "No, he wouldn't do that," Noel replied. "But Uried might, if it got him something he wanted," I added. "Uried would do that? He'd sacrifice an entire world and countless lives just to get something he wants?" Noel asked, incredulous. I laughed, but it was hollow sound. "While Uried may have the appearance, somewhat, of a human, he is the last thing from one. To him, humans are no more significant than insects, and even the ones that help him are tools. Ones he wouldn't hesitate to kill if it suited his purpose. I would know; I shared a head with that maniac," I said. "When is Cocoon supposed to fall? How many years? Is it soon?" Alyssa asked, panicked.

"No. Not for a couple of centuries," Noel told her. She sighed in relief. "Oh, that's a long time from now. I mean, none of us will even be alive to see it," she said. "But others will," Serah said. "Cocoon will fall into Gran Pulse. Imagine the catastrophe. Think how many lives will be destroyed." "Right. It's the future I lived in," Noel said. "And unless something is done, the future that awaits all others," I said solemnly. "It doesn't have to happen," Serah stated, and I looked at her surprised. "Noel, Deiru, we can change the future," she said, and Mog called "Kupo!" in agreement. "We can stop Cocoon from falling, and make your world a better place!" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, but how? You think you can go to the time when it falls and hold it up yourselves? Do you even have a gate to take you there?" Alyssa said, her voice half-condescending. I glared at her and she noticed my gaze. "What we do and how we do it should be none of your business, girl," I said venomously. All of my previous knowledge about Alyssa, along with my hatred. I would never, ever forgive her. Her eyes took and a slightly frightened look and she made a half-step back before Hope intervened. "It might not be necessary to travel to the specific time and place," he said. Noel looked at him confusedly. "How so?" he asked. "The future depends on what we do now, right? Yes, there is a chance Cocoon will fall, but can start working now to prevent it from happening," Hope explained.

"Right," Serah said, but Noel had to ask "But what if you can't, Hope?" "We can at least work to mitigate the damage. If we begin our research now, we have time. The, should Cocoon indeed fall, we can help protect the planet and save the victims," he said. I nodded and smiled. Alright, let's do it. The three of us will try to solve things ahead in future, while you all start getting prepared in this time period," I said. "Yes. Let's change the future," Hope said confidently. "Hope, thank you for the help," Serah said, beaming. He nodded and said "Time will separate us, but we share a common goal." "And that goal is sure to bring us together again. That being said, see ya," I said, and the three of us departed.

We left Hope and Alyssa and began to leave the ruins, and Serah said "Guys. You know, I started this journey hoping to find my sister. But now, I want more. I want to save the future." "So do I, Serah. So do I. Time to travel again," Noel replied. "Kupo! Find the gate and the key, kupo!" Mog said, flying around. I smiled again and shook my head in wonder. Where that moogle got his energy from was beyond me. Long story short, we found the artefact and accompanying gate, and went through. But when we did Yeul, Caius and Uried were watching us from behind, and when we left the gate Yeul moaned softly before collapsing to the ground. Caius caught her as she fell, but by the time he did she had already gone limp.

"Yeul…" Caius said, looking at her. "How many times must I see this?" he asked. Uried smiled before hiding it, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is way to stop it, you know," he said. Caius gasped and looked up at him. "How?" he asked. "You will already realize this in several centuries, but I will spare you that agony. The visions of the seeress are visions of the future, and thus they only occur as long as there _is_ a future," he said. Caius looked at him. "I still fail to understand," he told Uried. "Not to worry, for I will tell you. Just use that infinite patience and wait."

* * *

When we went through the gate we ended up in a place that wasn't where I expected, and I gasped at it. It appeared to be a large stone island floating in space, and upon it were the ruins of an old temple. Fallen columns scattered area, the other half standing tall despite the passage, or lack of passage, of time. The sky was covered in dark clouds that obscured nearly all light, giving the place and stone a gray and black lifeless look. But what startled me the most though was the floating crystal throne at the other end. "Kupo?!" Mog called, and I knew that he recognized it too. "Is this where I think it is?" Serah asked. "What? You mean Valhalla?" Noel said.

I looked around. I wanted to believe that this was Valhalla, and that Lightning would be here. But I knew otherwise. I couldn't sense her presence here, or that of any other living being. This was a dead place, absent of all life. This wasn't Valhalla. "Could Lightning be here?" Serah wondered. "No. Something's different. This looks like Valhalla. It looks like it, sure. But it's not the same," Noel said. "This is the Void Beyond. It's the rift between gate and gate, kupo!" Mog said. "I heard about this place. The Void beyond is an area that exists both in and out of reality, untouched by the currents of time. It's merely a shadow of the real Valhalla, and the only way that it can even be entered is either via accident or a faulty artefact. My guess is that we took a wrong turn," I said.

"So, are you saying we're lost?" Serah asked. I shook my head. "No, we can leave at any time we wish. But since we're here, we might as well take a break," I said. They both sighed and nodded, and Serah walked over to a white-gray stone bench, one of the few unbroken structures in this realm. "Finding my sister isn't going to be easy," she declared, sitting down. "You know, we had a legend back home about a goddess…" Noel began. We both looked at him, and Serah said "Huh?" "We hunters pass the legend down, from father to son and from mother to daughter. It gave us strength when times were tough," he said. "Well, let's hear it," I said.

"'Never give up, for the goddess Etro watches always, and helps those who help themselves'," Noel recited to us. Serah giggled. "It's not really much of a legend, is it? It sounds more like common sense to me," she said. I chuckled as well, but for a different reason. I had spoken with the goddess herself, and although she may have been able to watch us once, she was in no condition to do it now. Noel chuckled. "Yeah. But when the going gets rough, you don't need anything complicated. Just a reminder to stick things out. Let's just keep telling ourselves that every time we go through a gate, we're getting closer to Lightning. Sound good?" he asked. Serah nodded. "Sounds good," she said, and I clapped my hands. Then let's get back and out here, and make ourselves one step closer!"

* * *

**Episode 3 Part 2**

**Oathbrand**

**Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF**

_Each reunion is a twist of the knife. The joy is ephemeral; it leaves fear in its wake. A fear that all too soon, the time will come when you must bid farewell again. Yet you cannot help but long for the next encounter. Humanity's great frailty. We prefer past happiness to future uncertainty._

When we passed through the gate we ended up in the Sunleth Waterscape, and although it seemed peaceful enough I knew that something was wrong. There was way too much monster activity, even for a place like this. We looked down at a set of tree limbs below and were greeted by the most unusual of sights. Flan, hundred upon hundred of flan, were all moving across the branch, and with small flashed more kept appearing out of midair. "Look at all of them," I said in shock. "So this is what the end of the world looks like," Noel said. He stood and began to walk away. "Are _they_ going to destroy the planet?" Serah asked. I grunted. The idea seemed impossible, but I knew that despite their appearance flan were just as dangerous as any other monster. And that many could spell major disaster.

"I'm not sure. But if the world does end here, then my era shouldn't have existed. Which means there must be a stop them," Noel said. Abruptly my head flared with pain, and I shouted before falling to my knees, clutching my temples. A voice appeared within my head, one that sounded remarkable like Yeul's. "_The daughters of the sundered cocoon are sacrificed to beasts that warp time itself_," the voice said. Beside me the same exact thing happened to Serah, and she even fell to the ground. Noel caught her, and as one Serah and I said "The pillar crumbles to ashen sand, and down to earth the cocoon does fall." "What? Serah? Deiru!" Noel called. Our eyes snapped open, and a vision flashed before us.

Someone was falling to their knees, heavily weakened from battle. In front of him was a flan that size of a giant, and that same flan raised its gelatinous arms into the air. The arms swung down, and my sight went white. I saw the real world again, and Serah shouted "No!" before jumping out of Noel's arm. She looked around frantically before running off, and Noel called "Serah, wait!" She didn't listen, and as I stood and shook my head I heard him mutter "What did she see?" "I'll tell you what she saw: Bad news. Come on, she'll need our help," I said, and without waiting I ran after Serah. Noel followed behind and I thought hard. The same thing that had happened to Serah happened to me. Did that mean we had the same power? The Eyes of Etro?

The pink in Serah's hair mad her easy to follow, even despite her impressive speed at running. The same flan we had seen stood only a short distance ahead and Noel said "Whoa. That is one massive flan." I nodded. The whole thing was a tomato red-orange in color, and it looked like someone had taken a regular Flandragora and made it sixty feet tall. Numerous faces of smaller flan could be seen making up its base, and the flan that weren't attached crowed around a figure. One that shouldn't have been in this time period. I pulled my sword off of my back and called "Energy Arc!" Three waves of power flew forward and hit the flan, cleaving them in two while the man yelled "Serah!" and fell to the ground. It was him. Snow.

We reached Snow and Serah got down next to him, saying "Snow, is that you? I can't believe it!" It was Snow indeed, even if he looked slightly different. He still had one the same black pants, boots and gloves as before, only now he had on a black trench coat like mine, and a red shirt that showed part of his chest. His cap was gone, and his blonde hair had grown out until it was swept back and still reached covered the back of his neck, and a good amount of stubble covered him chin. Snow reached a cupped Serah's face. "Serah? I am I dreaming again?" he asked gently. Before she could answer though, the massive flan behind them raised its arms, swinging down.

Luckily Noel jumped and swung both his sword, sending a fireball two feet in diameter at the flan. It exploded against the monsters side and distracted it, while he ran next to us. "Thanks, Noel!" Serah said, and I nodded. "I'll keep it distracted. You guys get out of here!" Noel said. Snow smirked and stepped forward. "Hey, with Serah watchin'? I don't think so," he said. I smiled. "Some things never change," I said, while Noel sighed. "Fine, we'll do it together!" We readied our weapons, and charged just as the flan, the Royal Ripeness, rose its arms into the air and swung again. Noel and I rolled to the right while Snow grabbed Serah and jumped to left, a small indention left in the ground from the hit.

"Take this!" I called, and fired a volley of Fire spells, Serah also casting Fira. But unlike the first time, the beast actually _absorbed_ the spells, healing itself from our attacks. "Oh, no you don't!" Snow said, and cast Ruin before jumping up hitting it with a massive kick to the face. The flan reared its had back and I used Scan, trying to figure out how to beat it. My mind raced for a second before settling, and the information was now with me. "It's weak to Aero, and can heal itself. Hit it with wind and don;t stop!" I said, before casting Aeroga. Noel and Serah nodded before Serah began firing Aero, while Noel ran forward and used Galestrike. Just like before Snow didn't know Aero, but he did have those two huge fit, which he swung away with.

The flan ducked in a huge steam of air before using Belch, and a wave of poison spewed forth. We were all inflicted with Poison a the same time, and Serah and I switched to Medic and began healing everyone. Noel swung his large sword and cast a trio of Aero spell, before pointing his smaller sword and casting Blizzard. The ice block broke into pieces as it flew, and the wind helped bury over a dozen razor-sharp shards of ice the monster's skin. It groaned in pain, and Serah took that as a cue to start casting Deshell and Deprotect while Noel buffed everyone up. With his already monumental strength made even greater by a Bravery spell, Snow swung his fist down and punched the ground, calling "Sovereign Fist!"

A massive explosion ripped through the air, and the three of us had to stab our weapons into the ground to avoid being blown away. When the blast faded there were burns all over the Royal Ripeness's body, and it seemed to glare down at the form of Snow. It rose both its arm slowly into the air, gathering strength before slamming them down on him, earning a shout in pain as he disappeared. "Snow!" Serah and I called, and while Serah switched to Sentinel and used Provoke and Steelguard to draw the monster's attacks way I ran towards Snow. The hit had been hard enough to make a Snow-shaped hole in the ground, with Snow himself groaning as he got out of it.

"Here," I said, and casting a trio of Cura spells on him. "Thanks. Got any idea on how to beat this thing?" he asked. I thought about it for a moment, until I smiled and said "Remember how you and I worked together when we fought that fal'Cie Dahaka?" He looked confused for a second, until his eyes lit up and he nodded. "Let's do it," he said. I nodded and called out "Noel, Serah, get back!" They did so and Snow and I both raised our arm, our respective eidoliths appearing. "Come forth, Regnuma!" I called, and swung my sword down while Snow crushed his in his hand and said "Shiva, show 'em how it's done!" While the seven shard of my eidolith flew into the sky, the summoning of Snow's own Eidolons took place.

A sphere of water with Etro Script along its appeared, and within two figures could be seen moving. The sphere quickly froze for a second, before shattering and showing the Twin Sisters, Stiria and Nix. Both of them were tall and wore metal armor with wheels attached to their heads, but while Stiria's skin was ice-white and she wore a visor Nix was jet-black. Regnuma spread her wings and roared, and I smiled; the roar was one of happiness. Our Eidolons recognized each other and were glad to fight in battle together once again. Time to take this oversized plant out!" I called, and charged forward. Regnuma was right behind and swung, her claws tearing large scrapes in the monster's flesh.

Snow and Shiva sisters were right behind him, and while Snow punched and kicked, Stiria used Blizzaga and Nix attacked with Wheel Rap. The Royal Ripeness swung its arm left and right, trying to knock us and our Eidolons away. But it was in vain, for while Regnuma caught on of the arms and fried it with Thundaga the Shiva sister unleashed a barrage of Blizzaras and actually froze the other arm to the ground. The flan tugged mightily and broke its arm free, and let out a huge groan as it used Quivering Wrath, bestowing itself with an irremovable Haste. "Oh, so it wants to use special abilities now?" Snow asked, kicking it in the side with his boot. "Guess so. How about we use ours, then?" I replied, looking over at my old ally.

He nodded and we both jumped back, calling to our Eidolons that it was time to use Gestalt Mode. While I was surrounded by black mist that became armor and another sword, the Twin Sisters combined themselves into a motorcycle, which Snow jumped on and said "Let's ride!" I flew and let out a double-volley of Water and Thunder, while Snow used Icicle Drift to hit the beast with ice. It used its increased speed to knock us away, and then Belch to inflict Poison. "The thing still has in idea that it can win!" I remarked, ducking and weaving while also slashing with my swords. "Then how about we prove it wrong?" Snow suggested, an idea that sounded pretty good to me.

So while Snow revved his engine and charged up to use Diamond Dust, I brought Indomitus and Diluculum together and poured almost all of my strength into my finishing move. "Cool 'em off!" Snow called, just as I yelled "Energy Release!" A ball of pure power flew forward, but the ice from Snow's attack actually drew in the energy, trapping it inside the ice that the move created as he spun around and around. Then the ice shattered and hit the Royal Ripeness, each shard filled t the b rim with the power of my Energy Release. Countless tiny explosions went off all over its body, causing the beast to feel numbing cold and blistering heat at the same time.

We dismissed our Eidolons and Noel and Serah rejoined the fight, Noel saying "This jelly bean's really starting to tick me off!" "Come on, all together!" Snow said, running upward and hitting the beast with a right hook so powerful it sent the sixty-foot flan ten feet into the air. "With ya!" Noel said, and I said "Hit it!" We both slashed down in a X across its chest, and I held up my sword for Noel to jump of off and become level with is face. "See if you like this!" Noel called, and let out of total of four fireballs that the beast was too of-balance to absorb. "Serah!" I called, and Snow said "Shoot!" "Got it!" she replied, and pulled back her bow. She let the arrow build up in strength for a second before firing, and it hit the monster straight in the chest, exploding.

The Royal Ripeness burst apart into countless Miniflan, who immediately moved towards each other and began re-combining. "it just won't stay dead!" Snow said angrily. "Let's go!' Noel called, and I nodded. "Yeah. We hit it hard while it's down and-" Snow began, before I said "He means e get out of here!" Serah pulled on his arm and said "Come on, Snow! Let's go!" He looked at her, surprised, but didn't fight when she half-dragged him away from the fight. The Royal Ripeness didn't pursue us, but it didn't need to. Soon, we would go after it.

* * *

Aw yeah, Snow had made his entrance! Now that the crew has joined up with him, will they be able to defeat the giant flan? And how did Snow even get there in the first place? Find out next chapter!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Man, everyone jumped on me giving Deiru the Eyes of Etro, huh? Well, either way, here are some replies:

rsdk525: Crap indeed, huh? And as for your question, the answer is no, as Deiru knows nothing will change Snow's mind.

X-Ranger1: You are correct. But that isn't the only power he has.

And thus, the journey goes on!

* * *

Ch.14 Follow the Flan

After the four of us, five if you included Mog, escaped from the giant flan we made a stop a good distance away, catching our breath. Noel looked up at Snow. "Listen, hotheads who can't back down don't last long on this planet," he said. Snow smirked. "Maybe. But sometimes you gotta make a stand," he said, looking back at the flan. I groaned; that response was typical Snow, and Noel said "You're not listening to me. Humans aren't strong. They die easy." "Well some of us are tougher than others," Snow replied, his macho confidence back in full swing. "Anyway, thanks for the help. You got a name?" he asked. Noel walked off, and Serah decided to make the introduction. "This is Noel. And this is Snow. We're getting married," she said, standing next to Snow.

"It's on hold for now," Snow said, and Serah looked at him in surprise before letting go of his arm. "Right" she muttered, and I chuckled. "And before I forget…" Snow began, before abruptly turning around and crushing me in bear hug. "Hey! Snow! Okay, it's good to see you too. Let me go!" I said, my voice becoming more strained as I began to run out of oxygen. Snow let me down and put my hands on my knees, gasping for breath. "Geez. Try and kill me, why don't ya?" I said. Snow laughed. "Sorry, Deiru. But man, has it been a long time since I've seen you. And besides Serah and I, everyone thought you had died with Lightning," he said. "You know him?" Noel asked. I nodded. "Snow and I used to both be l'Cie, and had the same Focus. We traveled together, along with Lightning, Hope, Sazh, Vanille, Fang and Sofia," I said.

"You know, somehow I didn't expect you to be such a hothead. Everyone's saying how great a guy Snow is. And yet here you are, fighting in the future," Noel said. Snow frowned and stepped forward. "I'm sorry, who's the hothead? What were you thinking, bringing Serah out here?" he asked. "Well…" Serah I both said, and began explaining.

* * *

"… And that's how we got here," Serah finished, having summarized everything that had happened thus far. "Now it's your turn," Noel said. "Why did you leave Serah? What are you doing, fighting here in the future?" Snow crossed his arm and sighed. "You really want to know?" he asked. Noel scoffed. "I asked, didn't I?" Snow was silent for a moment, until saying "Lightning appeared in my dreams too. Can you believe it?" "You saw Lightning?" Serah asked. He nodded. "She told me that I had to protect Cocoon. So I started jumping through time, checking things out. Turns out the giant jelly bean back there knocks Cocoon down," he said. My eyes widened. "You mean that flan we just fought?" I asked.

He nodded, and Noel looked at it with a thoughtful expression. "According to my time, Cocoon was brought down by war," he said. "Well, there are all kinds of reasons. Did you see what it was doing, that flan? It's melting the crystal of the pillar, bit by bit," Snow explained. "But Fang, Vanille and Sofia. They're all inside it!" Serah said in shock. Again Snow nodded. "Anyway, people feel the tremors, began to panic. Next thing you know, everyone's fighting each other," he said. Noel considered the information. "It's consistent with what I know… sort of," he conceded. Serah brought her hands together. "I can't believe Lightning appeared in your dreams as well," she said.

I nodded in agreement. "She told you to protect Cocoon's pillar, so that must also include Vanille, Fang and Sofia," I said. "Like I said, sometimes you've got to make a stand. I don't have a choice," Snow said. We were silent for a moment, until Serah looked at Snow. "I can't believe Lightning appeared in your dreams, too. That means it must be true. She _is_ alive!" she exclaimed. "Yep, you were right all along, Serah. There she was, right in my dream. We talked and everything. Once I've made sure Vanille and the others are safe, we can look for Light together," Snow replied. I smiled. "Then let us help you defeat that monster! We won't abandon Vanille, Fang and Sofia," I said. "If that's what Lightning wants, we've got no choice," Noel pointed out.

He looked at the flan. "None of this makes sense. There are thousands of flan appearing out of nowhere, and they're fusing together and creating a beast that shouldn't exist," he said. "Could it be a paradox?" Serah asked hopefully. "If it is, then we'll need to travel through a gate to help fix it," I said. "Which means you've got to find an artefact first," Snow concluded. We were all in agreement, and so we started in the opposite direction of the giant flan. Instantly a set of monsters appeared before us, and although they weren't anywhere near the size of the giant flan they weren't keen on letting us go. There was a total of five composed of three Miniflan, an Oannes, and a Sahagin Prince.

I raised Indomitus and stared straight ahead. "Just like old times, huh Snow?" I asked. He smiled and moved into a battle pose, fists raised. "Yeah. So let's get 'em!" he said, and ran ahead. I ran next to him, and Serah and Noel followed. The Oannes and Sahagin Prince used Power Sprint, bestowing themselves with Protect, Shell, Vigilance and Veil, while all three of the Miniflan cast Fire at once. Snow crossed his arms in an X and took one, while I sliced through the other two with my sword. "Have a taste of your own medicine!" I called, and I cast a pair of Fira spells. Snow followed it up with Blizzara, while Noel cast Aerora and Serah used Thundara.

The barrage of four different elements left the flan dazed for several seconds, seconds which I used to remove all the buffs on the Oannes and Sahagin before charging. They both screeched and ran at me, trying to peck at me with their huge beaks. "Nice try!" Noel said, and he threw his stabbing sword at the Oannes. It hissed loudly as the sword planted itself in one of its wings, and it raised it head. A ball of water appeared in the air, which flew at Noel at hit him. "Water, huh? Two can play at that game!" Noel said, but when he moved to cast Watera his movements were slow, and he was knocked off-balance by a Fire spell from a Miniflan before he could finish. "That water attack must have inflicted Slow! Here!" Serah said, firing an arrow at a Miniflan before casting Esuna.

He nodded his thanks and moved at the Sahagin Prince, while Snow gave another Miniflan an uppercut hard enough to send it into the air. I distracted the Oannes with an Aeroga spell and jumped up, slashing at the flan and cleaving it in two. I kept myself aloft with another Aeroga, and Snow kicked another flan up for me to dispatch. The last one tried to hit me with Fire, but Serah fired an arrow and struck it right between the eyes. The flan screeched and slumped over, and the Oannes took the chance to hit Serah with another ball of water. "Serah!" Snow called, and glared at the monster. "Now you've asked for it!" he said, and ran forward. His hand glowed with light and he slammed it into the ground, calling "Sovereign Fist!"

A massive explosion ripped outwards, and I shouted as I had to stab Indomitus into the ground to avoid being blown away. The Oannes was blasted to ashes by the explosion, and the Sahagin Prince was weakened enough that one more hit from Noel defeated it. "Man, I forgot that you knew that move," I said, putting my sword on my back and observing the destruction. The blast from Snow's ultimate technique had left a crater in the ground that was eight feet in diameter and five feet deep, along with the ground around it being completely scorched. "I hate to ruin the moment, but there are more smaller flan," Serah said, pointing. Indeed, there was a whole line of Miniflan moving on a wide branch below us.

Strangely enough, they were moving _away_ from us rather than at us. "There are so many of them. Where are they all going?" Serah asked. "We follow them straight to the artefact. Well, maybe," Snow said. "It's possible. They may be drawn by the spacetime disturbance. Let's find out," Noel said. "Well, I see no more point in waiting around then," I said, and started in the direction of the flan. The others followed, and thankfully our path was plagued my less than a few more fiends. "Serah, you've gotten tougher while I was away," Snow remarked. "I had to, if I wanted to find you and Lightning again," she said. Snow frowned and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry I left like I did. Look, when this is all over, I'll help you find Lightning. Okay?" he asked.

Serah smiled and nodded, and I did my best not to roll my eyes. Another journey with Snow was _not_ going to keep me from going insane. "So Noel, you still haven't told me why you're traveling through time. Long story short, I'm trying to save humanity," he replied. Snow frowned, this time on confusion. "Save humanity? Why? What happens to us?" he asked. "I lived at the and of days. I've seen how we end. And I'm the only one who can change it," Noel said in way of reply. This only made Snow more confused, and I laughed. "Don't worry your granite-constructed head. Just know that we're trying to help people," I told Snow. He looked ready to protest at being told his head was made of granite, but before he could Serah called "Hey guys, this is where the flan were trying to get to."

"And there's our artefact," Noel added. It was indeed floating right there, in front of us and in plain sight. The problem? About a dozen flan were crowding around and looking at it. "Wonder how mad they're getting to get if we take it," I thought aloud. "Well, we need that artefact to go through. So I guess we have no choice," Snow said, but his was still smiling at the idea of a good fight. I groaned; that as another thing a I forgot about Snow. He almost had a death with in his lack of hesitation when charging in. "All right, but let's catch them by surprise. If we do, then we can cut down half of their numbers before they even know what's going on," I reasoned.

Serah and Noel thought it was good idea and nodded, but Snow smirked and pumped his fists. "Why go through all that trouble when you can just do this!" he said, and charged ahead. "Hey, jelly bean gallery!" he shouted, and the Miniflan turned to look at him. The sight of an over six-foot tall guy running towards them and yelling seemed to surprise a few of them, but the other let out a total of nine Fire spells at once. Snow stopped and crossed his arms, shouting in pain from the burns the spells gave him. I face-palmed myself and sighed, drawing my sword. "That's why," I muttered, before charging in. Serah and Noel did the same, Serah healing Snow while Noel and I charged in.

"Elemental Barrage!" I called, and pointed my sword at two flan. They both cast Fire at the same time I cast, and both our spells met in midair. They pushed against each other for a moment before I ran towards the flan, cutting through the spells and using the resulting smoke to give me cover until I was right in front of them. "And good night!" I said, bringing Indomitus around and cleaving both of them in two with one blow. That left a total of ten flan, which Became Nine when Serah shot one with her arrow. Then they all cast Revitalize on themselves, and any cuts they may have had closed. "What the heck?" Noel said, slashing one across the chest and jumping back when the wound healed itself.

"They can bestow Regen on themselves! Be careful!" I warned, stepping away and charging Destrudo. My sword pulsed with power and the move charged up, and one of the flan took that moment to cast Fire at me. I shouted as the fireball hit me in the stomach, but since I had already started the spell I couldn't stop it. "Try that on me!" Snow dared the, using Provoke. They move worked and all nine of the flan turned towards him, casting magic while Snow raised his Steelguard. They hit him and barely did any damage, prompting me to smile. While he was in Sentinel Snow was a talking fortress. "Let's get rid of that regenerating, what say you?" I asked Serah. She nodded and e both switched to Saboteur, Serah hitting each individual Flan with Poison while I used Poisonga.

Noel combined his swords into a javelin and jumped into the air, throwing it a flan. It went straight through and instantly killed it, and while he ran to get the javelin Noel cast Blizzara and Aerora at any flan who tried to stop him. "There are eight left! Each of us take two!" Snow said, dropping the Steelguard to give another flan a huge hammer fist. The force it of the hit nearly flattened the Miniflan into a pancake, and when it regained its original shape it was completely dazed. "Got it!" Serah said, and fired a trio of Ruins at the two she targeted. One missed but the other two connected, sending them back slightly and giving her enough room to fire. Which was exactly what she did.

The arrows sailed straight and true and hit the two flan straight between the eyes. "Bulls-eye!" Serah said, smiling at her aim. Noel began congratulating her but had to stop, cartwheeling away from another Fire spell and running up to slash with his larger sword. The metal flames cut straight through and the Miniflan slumped over, dead as a doornail. All that left were the flan assigned to Snow and me, and I took care of mine with a well-timed Blizzaga spell. Snow kicked one of his away and dealt the another a second hammer fist, this time stomping on it with his boot before it could regain shape. It screeched as it tried to get out of its flattened state, but Snow just pressed harder while he cast Ruinga and blasted the other flan.

"Oh, just shut up!" he said, and removed his boot to punch it in the face hard enough to leave an impression in its skin. The flan screeched no more. Any other that may have been approaching took in the sight of their fallen comrades and were smart enough to retreat, leaving the place empty of flan in seconds. Noel walked over and picked up the artefact, examining it. "This is crystal, too," he said. Snow walked towards him and he handed it over. "I've seen crystals like this before. Right, Serah? You remember, don't you?" Snow asked, his voice oddly solemn. Serah nodded. "I remember... I cried a crystal tear," she said. I gasped and remembered; Serah had indeed wept a tear of crystal. Just before the rest of her crystallized along with it.

"Serah, you know what it's like, don't you? Being turned into crystal," Noel said. "Yes, I know. It was the loneliest, scariest moment of my life," she said. "Serah, I..." Snow began. But then she shook her head and smiled, pushing them memories away. "It's all right. You know, I think I dreamed the whole time. But they were good dreams. Dreams about turning back to normal. Being with my friends again," she said. Snow smiled as well. "I hope that's true. I hope Vanille, Fang and Sofia are dreaming right now. I hope they're happy in there," he said. "Yeah," I agreed, looking at the what we could see of the pillar and remembering them. Vanille, with her always sunny smile, Fang, strong in every task, and Sofia, hose logic prevailed when things were tough.

"You know, in my future, we had a legend, about how the 'daughter of the goddess' saved Cocoon," Noel said. Snow chuckled. "They would have been the first to tell you they weren't goddesses. Not they type," he said, and I added "Definitely." We all laughed a little at that, and with that we left to go find our new artefact's accompanying gate. It was tucked away from the main road, hovering over a set of branches wide enough for us to walk on. Noel held up the artefact and the gate absorbed it, activating. "Wonder where this one goes," he said. "Okay. Let's check out the future," Snow said, pumping his fists together. "Not you," I said simply. "Say what?" She asked, looking at me.

"For every road, there's a different gate. If you try to take one that's not yours..." he said, but Snow had already walked towards the gate. When he got close enough though a crystalline barrier appeared, which he walked straight into. "Ouch!" he said, jolted with a small amount of electricity. "See?" I asked. "Are you okay?" Serah asked Snow. He nodded and stood straight. "Okay, not my gate. I can take a hint. Guess I'm staying here then. Don't do anything I would. You take care," he said, looking at Serah. "I will," she promised. "Just do us a favor and don;t anything we wouldn't. Like taking on giant flan single-handed?" I said. Serah grabbed his hand. "Yeah, you behave yourself, alright? I'm serious, Snow," she said, a strict tone in her voice. "Okay, I'll be good," he told us, and we stepped through.

But if traveling on a journey with Snow had taught me anything, its was that he never just waited for anything.

* * *

Thus, the quest to defeat His Royal Ripeness has begun. Where will the gate take our heroes, and what will they do? And will Snow actually behave and stay still?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I"m just kidding... or am I?)


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Thus the journey goes... but first, replies!

* * *

X-Ranger1: I hope you like what I told you; you'll get to see next chapter.

Rsdk525: You're right, they really won't. And I plan to do bonus chapters of the coliseum fights, but only after the main storyline has been completed.

And so, here we go!

* * *

Ch.15 Work, Work, Work

**Archlyte Steppe**

**Year Unknown**

When the three of us emerged from the gate, I briefly didn't recognize where we were. Huge fields of waist-high grass marched for a great distance, but I could also distantly see a huge lake surrounded by rocks. The sky was a yellow-brown and covered with clouds, while a wins strong enough to bend over the grass billowed about. "Where are we?" Serah asked. I shook my head, unsure, but then I picked up the sound of trampling feet. "What?" Noel said, before looking behind us and to our right. "Look out!" he yelled, and tackled us both to the ground. I was about to demand why he had done that when I saw exactly why. A trio of Silver Lobos ran past where we had been standing, followed by three people riding chocobos.

One of them, a male, yelled "Flank them from the west!" "Got it!" a woman replied. The three surrounded the monsters, and promptly killed them with a series of arrow and axes. Noel pointed at the Lobos. "Look, that's their prey," he said. "Wow," Serah muttered, and I agreed. The skill they had demonstrated in that was incredible. But there was something else. "They seem desperate. Like they gotta get this one or there will nothing else to eat," Noel pointed out. "Really? I guess you have to be hunter to tell," Serah said. "Okay, I've figured out where we are: This is the Archlyte Steppe on Gran Pulse," I said, before looking around. "What gets me though, is why they would be desperate for prey. This area of Pulse has more monsters than I can bother to count," I explained.

"Let's introduce ourselves and find out," Noel suggested. Serah nodded and said "Sure," while I shrugged. We had to if we were going to find out clues. We ran for a metal wall that was built into the side of a cliff, with two opening on the left and right. As we got near we slowed down, and entered cautiously. A number of the hunters gave us strange looks, probably because of my and Serah's clothing. "Uh, excuse me?" I said out loud. Several of them turned to look at me, and I cleared my throat before continuing. "Can you tell us where your leader is? We would like to speak with him," I said. Some narrowed their eyes suspiciously, but one of them, the woman who had been on the chocobos, pointed at a two story metal building.

"Tipur's up there. He's not our leader, but he does direct a lot of our activities. Ask him if you want to know anything. Just don't expect answers," she said. I nodded my thanks and we walked towards the complex, which was really two stories of metal built to stand despite any weather and was open to the wind. On the second floor we found a man staring out into the plains, but he turned at our entrance. "If you're here to hunt, find someplace else," he said. "Are you Tipur?" I asked. "Who wants to know?" Tipur asked. "Deiru Tamashi, and this is Noel Kreiss, Serah Farron, and Mog," I said, waving my hand at each of them.

"Charmed. But now allow me another question: Why are you here?" Tipur questioned. "You guys aren't exactly hauling it in. Prey getting scarce?" Noel asked. "Yes. Ever since that storm blew up. The lands were teeming with game before that," he replied. "Can you tell us what's causing it?" I asked. Tipur frowned. "My friends are out there already assessing the situation. But even if I knew, I wouldn't tell anyone that wasn't a hunter," he said. "But Noel's a hunter!" Serah interjected. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Noel, who said "Don't look so surprised; she's right, you know." Tipur looked at me. "What about you? Are you a hunter?" he said. I shook my head and smiled. "No, but I do know my way with a sword," I said.

"Really. Then you wouldn't mind if I put you to the test?" he asked. We all shook our heads, and he said "Alright, let's see what you can do. We've been getting harassed by a pack of monsters lately. Think you can get rid of them for us?" "I think we can do that," Noel said, looking at each of us. Serah and I agreed, and so we left the hunters' encampment and headed into the plains. Out in the open the wind blew hard enough to almost make us fall over, and I frowned. "Tipur's right; this kind of weather is completely unnatural. I've been to the Archlyte Steppe, and then closest thing to this that ever happened was when Titan changed the weather," I said. "Then let's defeat these monsters and see of they'll tell us anything," Serah said.

As if they had heard her, there was feral hiss and a pack of monsters ran forward out of the grass. Once I found out what they were I rolled my eyes, knowing why the hunters had found them so irritating. "A pack of Goblins," I noted, pulling off Indomitus. "Let's get 'em!" Noel said, and both Serah and nodded. The Goblins charged at us, and out of a total of seven three moved towards me. They all swung with huge roundhouse punches, which I easily ducked below and slashed at them across their stomachs. They all fell back, and when they felt the pain of the cut they hissed again before running at me. Two other Goblins moved for Serah, who planted an arrow in the head of one before casting Ruin on the other.

That left one Goblin down, the act of which sent the others into a fury. While a fifth Goblin tried to punch Noel another crept behind him, jumping up and kicking him in the back of the knees. Noel shouted in surprise and fell forward, face-planting against the dirt. Both of the Goblins jumped on him, stamping their feet into his back. "Noel!" I called, and cast Ruinga on the Goblins targeting me before I ran towards him. The two on his back hissed at my approach, jumping off and moving at me. That let Noel got up and cast Cure on himself before throwing his smaller sword. It arced up through the air before falling towards one of the Goblins and stabbing right into the back of its skull. The monster fell down without a sound, and Serah finished off another with Fira.

That left four Goblins to go, and they didn't want to go down easily. This was proven so when each pair began shining, and they combined into just two Goblins that grew in size. Once they light faded I saw that their appearance had been slightly changed, and I said "They combined into Goblin Chieftains!" The two monsters ran forward they swung at Serah and Noel, getting both of them in the stomach. They doubled over and where kicked to the ground, before turning on me. "Don't ever dream it!" I said, and cast Thundaga. Bolts of lightning shot down from the heavens and blasted them, but despite the power of the spell they were barely affected. They ran at me and both tried to land punches, but I cast Aerora and sent them skidding back.

"Time for some payback!" Noel called, and he ran at the Chieftains. They heard him coming and turned, and Noel cast both Watera and Thundara. The first spell doused the monsters in water before they were hit by the second spell, and the monsters learned the hard way that water and electricity simply do not mix. They hissed in agony as the current worked through them, and when the spell was done they fell on the ground, jerking and twitching. Serah changed her bow into its sword form and stabbed one in the stomach, causing it to spasm a few more time before going limp. I ended the last one with a blow from the flat of my blade hard ended to crack the skull, and the monster moved no more.

For a minute we all stood there, panting, before Noel put his swords back together and placed it on his back. "Well then, shall we head back?" he asked. Serah and I nodded and put our weapons away, her bow turning back into Mog. "Maybe now the hunters will trust us, kupo!" he said. "Let's hope so," Serah said, and I nodded. We made our way back across the plains, having only slight difficulty due to the wind. When we reached the encampment the hunters still gave us the same looks, only they were less now that we had been assigned to defeat the Goblins and came back. I guess news travels fast. We climbed back up the complex where Tipur was, and at the top he turned at our approach. "You defeated the monsters?" he asked.

I nodded and said "Well, we passed you're little test. Can you tell us what you know about the storm?" "I think you might be worthy of our trust, but the other hunters aren't so sure. There's another hunter named Myta, who needs some help. Do what she asks, and if my friends have come back by then I'll tell you what they find," Tipur said. "Okay," Serah said, and although I was anxious to find out the cause of the storm I reluctantly accepted. We left the structure and began walking through the encampment, and Noel said "Wonder which one of these people is Myta." As if in response we heard a female voice call "Ouch! Quit that!" We turned to see a young woman surrounded by sheep, all of whom were acting skittish and scared. "Are you okay?" Serah asked.

She nodded. "Yeah; one of these sheep just bit my hand. They always get nervous whenever the storm is around," she said, gently petting one that bayed sadly. "You wouldn't happen to be Myta by any chance, would you?" I asked. She nodded, and Noel said "Tipur told us you needed some help. What do you need?" "You'll help me? Thanks! I'm trying to keep these sheep here under control, but that means I can't do my job collecting wool from the sheep out in the plains. I need you to collect wool from three of the larger sheep and bring it back to me. Can you do that?" Myta asked. "That's all? We can do that," Noel replied. Neither Serah nor I argued, so we left the camp again on another chore.

* * *

When we got back my arms were laden down by the wool, as Serah had insisted that we actually gather _more_ than Myta asked. "To make sure she lets Tipur know we helped," she said. At the time it had been a good idea, but then while I had been carrying the wool back it rained for a while, and I found that wet wool is _heavy_. So, with my arms laden with heavy, wet wool and my back screaming bloody murder, we got back to the encampment and laid the wool down in front of Myta. "Wow! This is a lot of wool, enough that can even save some for later! Thanks for your help," she thanked us. "Not a problem," Serah said, while I ignored her and put my hands against the small of my back, tilting backwards.

I was awarded with the satisfying sound of several vertebrae cricking, and I sighed in relief. "Okay, let's see if Tipur knows anything now," Noel said. "Are you trying to figure out the cause of the storm?" Myta asked. "Yeah. Do you know anything?" he replied "I don't know much, but I have noticed hat the storm only appears when it's hot and sunny outside," she said. "So... we wait for the weather to change?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "We can't afford to wait that long. There has to be something we can do," Serah said. "There's a weather-controlling device nearby. I think Tipur is usually around it," Myta said. We thanked her and headed back.

Upon our arrival Tipur said "I have to thank you for helping Myta. We still haven't found out anything, but as thanks you can use our weather device to see if you can find anything." With that he gestured his hand to a machine in the corner of the room, one that we hadn't looked at before. It appeared to look like a large metal box five feet in height, with a pair of levers on the front. "Cool, but how do we use it?" Noel asked. "I can do it," I said, drawing on my knowledge of the game version of things. I grabbed a lever and pulled it down, and I watched a series of tall metal poles with fan blades scattered throughout the plains turned slightly. The blustery wind faded away, and the sky changed from yellow-brown to purple, which rumbles of thunder.

"That's cool, but nothing seems any different," Noel pointed out. I smiled and said "Wait for it," before pulling down the other lever. The blades on the poles closed halfway, and the clouds abruptly dispersed, filling the plains with heat and bright sunlight. And the moment that happened, a dark dragon-like monster appeared at the edge pf the plains. "Hey!" Serah called, and Noel and I nodded. Just then another hunter ran up and whispered something in Tipur's ear before running off. He turned us and smiled. "We've just found out what caused the storm! There's a large monster in the grasslands that's taking all the flan. The beast is massive! It can swallow dozens of flan at once! And when it does, it kicks up that storm we've been seeing!" he said.

"A beast that can swallow dozens of flan in one go? Noel, Deiru, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Serah asked. We nodded. "If there are flan here, I'll bet you my favorite bow that there's some connection to the giant flan back in Sunleth," Noel said. "I once heard about a special type of crystal called a 'Black Hole Gem'. Whatever matter touched this gem was absorbed and sent to even another location, or even another time," I explained. "And you think that the monster may have accidentally swallowed the gem?" Serah asked. I nodded, and Noel pointed. "Look," he said. We turned to see the monster, the faeryl, open its mouth wide and roar. When it did any flan around the beast were sucked in, instantly vanishing.

"There's no other explanation. They're being sucked into a time rift," Noel said. "And then, they're reappearing back at Sunleth," Serah finished. "Right. If we defeat the faeryl then we can stop the giant flan from growing," I said. "Well, then what are we waiting for, kupo?" Mog said. We all smiled and nodded, turning the machine back to where the sky was purple and stormy, and leaving the village for the faeryl. Just before we did Tipur called "If anyone can stop the storm, it's you two. Good luck!" I smiled at that, glad that we had gained the hunters' trust. We reached the faeryl, and on closer inspection it indeed looked like a dragon. It's body was stone-gray and corded with muscles, with three claws an each of its four feet, while its face was covered with spikes around the edge and fire billowed out of its mouth slightly whenever it exhaled. A large pair of wings were attached to its back, looking the same color as the rest of it.

The faeryl looked at us as we approached and growled, while we drew our weapons. "Mealtime's over!" Noel called. I nodded and drew my sword, while Mog changed into Serah's bow. The faeryl roared and slashed at us, forcing us to jump back. "Keep it distracted. Don't let it focus on just one of you or you're done!" I advised. They nodded, and Noel cast Aerora while Serah shot Fira. The wind made the fire grow in size, and the faeryl roared as its face was scorched. Then I cast Waterga and Blizzara, clamping its mouth shut as its face was covered with ice. The beast roared and the skin below the ice glowed red, before abruptly melting as it unleashed a torrent of fire at me.

I shouted and had just enough time to use Mediguard before I was enveloped in flame. "Deiru!" Serah called, but I could barely hear her over the crackling of flames. Finally the attack ended, and I fell to one knee. The Mediguard did its job and slowly restored my health, but I knew that the damage had taken was severe. "Try picking on someone your own size!" Noel said, and he slash the beast's flank with his larger sword. It turned to him and cast Aerora, sending Noel back from the force of the wind. Serah tried to heal both him and me, but it used Dragon Breath again and burned Serah all over her body. She screamed in pain, and that was enough to get me to stand. "All right, try this you bastard!" I yelled, charging Destrudo.

But the beast had anticipated the move and spread its wings, jumping into the air. It flew around and gathered speed, before comping down and using Megaton Charge straight at me. It slammed into my front just as I was done casting, and the orbs of energy fired in every direction except the one I wanted them to go. And one of them hit Serah. The orb exploded when it hit her and she was sent flying, landing hard on the ground between us and the faeryl. "Serah!" Noel and I called, and he tried to stand, but was sent back down with another Aerora. It moved towards the fallen form of Serah, and I from where I was on the ground I knew I wouldn't get there in time. The faeryl stopped before her and raised an arm, intending to cut her to ribbons. Serah saw it coming and covered her face, screaming "NO!"

But then her left arm blazed with a harsh white light.

The faeryl roared and stepped back, blinded by the light. Serah stopped screaming, and a circle with a large square, within which a diamond, and Etro Script around the edges appeared on the ground below her. My eyes widened, and even though it shouldn't have been possible I knew what was happening. "Serah! Get away from there! Now!" I yelled.

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Oh snap, what could have just happened now? Is what you are thinking correct, and if so, how will our heroes be able to win? Find out next chapter!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

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Here are some replies before the story, for I must speak to my wonderful audience!

Stor Speaker: I hope the website I said got you the picture you needed.

X-Ranger1: The wait is now over, and here is what you waited for!

And with that, let the show go on!

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Ch.16 Gratia

"Come on! Move!" I yelled at Serah. She nodded, and managed to stand enough that she could run back to me. I cast several Cura spells and healed all of us, ignoring the slight lull of exhaustion that came from it. The glyphs that had appeared on the ground beneath Serah flashed, erupting into a pillar of stark white light between us and the faeryl. It rose up, up, and disappeared into the clouds above. Everything was picked out in either harsh detail or pitch-black shadows, and I saw one, _two_ pairs of wings spread out from within the pillar of light. Then it faded, and I could see the apparition before us. Like others of its kind it was inhumanly tall, almost twenty-five feet tall.

The wings appeared as if they were made of metal, the upper left and lower right oily black while the others were shimmering white. The figure appeared feminine, and wore a long hooded robe made of ice-white metal. Ebony hair framed a pale face with golden yellow eyes, and lips so thin they were almost nonexistent. She raised her arm into the air, and in a flash a long scythe appeared in her hands. It looked the same way you would imagine it: a long pole made of black metal with a curved steel blade at the top. "What is that thing?" Serah asked fearfully, and although Noel said that he did not know, I did. This wasn't a monster, an angel, or even another human. "It's an Eidolon," I said quietly.

"What? But how is that possible? I'm not a l'Cie anymore!" Serah nearly yelled. I shook my head, saying "I don't know either." The faeryl didn't know, nor did it apparently care, as it roared in challenge and dug its feet into the ground. The Eidolon looked away from us, turning around and staring at the beast. It roared again and cast Aerora, but the move barely caused her to blink. She held her scythe in her right hand and flung her left out, casting Thundaga. Bolts of lightning arced down from the clouds and blasted the faeryl, causing it to snarl in pain. But before it could the Eidolon slammed the butt of her scythe into the ground, and pillars of earth burst from the ground all around us.

I watched, stunned as the Quake spell slashed the monster all over its body. It flapped its wings and took to the sky, flying around and gathering speed. But when it turned around and came in for Megaton Charge, the angelic Eidolon swung her scythe and sent out a wave of blue-white energy. The faeryl roared and the attack hit in the middle of its mouth, _slicing it straight in half_. My jaw unhinged and I stared, stunned as the faeryl was cut in half horizontally before exploding. Pieces of its body rained down in all directions, and the Eidolon lowered her scythe, not having even moved from where she had appeared. As she did I saw a flash of Etro Script along the blade, and I quickly translated in my head.

"_By the Grace of Etro, let the heavens sing to your arrival. Descend from above, angel of life and death. A name in blood, a pact of faith. Gratia shall rise, her bond eternal and unyielding_," the writing said. That settled it; this was an Eidolon. "What does it want?" Serah asked. "It appeared when you were about to be killed, so it must have been you it was summoned for. We have to defeat her, or die," I said simply. Gratia nodded at my words, and held her scythe with both hands. Serah looked frightened for a few more minutes, before nodding and holding up her bow. "Alright, let's go!" she said, and Noel and I nodded, the three of us charging forward.

Gratia slammed the butt her scythe against the ground, and Serah shouted as she was enveloped in black mist. It faded and she fell to her knees. "Don't stop; it cast the spell Doom! We have to defeat Gratia or you life force will fade away!" I said. Serah nodded and stood back up, charging forward. Gratia extended her hand and cast Fira, shooting a fireball at us that exploded against the ground. Noel and I dodged it and slashed against her side, but the metal of the robe took a lot of force out of our blows and struck sparks. She cast Aero and shoved us back with a burst of air, before abruptly turning to me and swinging her scythe down with both hands. I shouted and blocked the blow, but I could feel Gratia's inhuman strength pushing against me.

"Here!" Serah said, and fired an arrow at one of the wings. It exploded on impact and caused a few of the metal feathers to dislodge, swaying gently to the ground like real ones. Gratia frowned and turned towards her, and Serah froze in fear. I hesitated, unsure whether to intervene or let Serah prove her worth to her Eidolon. In that moment Gratia struck, spinning her scythe in a circle and casting Aeroga. The spell created a miniature twister powerful enough to knock Serah off of her feet, and the angelic Eidolon swung down. Serah yelped and rolled to the side, nearly being impaled right through the stomach. The scythe bit deep into the ground where she had been, but gratia was able to pull it back out with minimal effort.

That settled it. Time to intervene. "Hey, Gratia!" I called, and she turned to me. I called forth my eidolith, and said "Hope the Eidolon angel likes meeting the Eidolon demon!" before I summoned Regnuma. She shot down from the clouds and crashed into the ground, standing and spreading her bat wings and screeching. The two Eidolons locked gazes, and for a second I wondered whether bringing two inhuman, super-powerful beings together on opposing sides was such a good idea. Then Regnuma roared and launched herself forward, Gratia doing the same. My Eidolon slashed with her claws and tore through the metal robs, receiving a cut to her side in response.

Both of them cast Firaga at the same time and the two spells met in midair, pushing against each other for a second before exploding. A pure shockwave of energy blasted outwards, sending Serah, Noel and I back through the air and onto our backs. While Regnuma and Gratia were fighting each other claw-to-scythe we stood back up, and Noel looked at me. "With all due respect Deiru, I think summoning the Eidolon of _your_ Eidolon was a bad idea," he said. Ducking to avoid a stray Thunder spell, I nodded. "Maybe," I conceded, running forward. "Regnuma, you've done well! Now, return to your eidolith!" I commanded, holding up the crystal. She looked at me in shock and horror, but when she saw the not-kidding expression on my face she growled in reluctant agreement.

I smiled; Regnuma was an Eidolon that hated leaving a fight before it was over. But she had been defeated by me long ago, and the law of humans and Eidolons still stood. Those who lost obeyed the victors. So Regnuma dissolved into black mist which surged back into her eidolith, and with no other opponent Gratia turned back to us. But rather than freeze of move away, Serah stepped forward. "Serah! What are you doing?!" I called. She turned back to me and smiled. "This thing is here to test me, right? I have to be the one to defeat it," she said. "What are you talking about? That's crazy," Noel said, but when he ran forward I blocked him. "Don't; Serah's right. This is her trial, she must be the one to overcome it," I said.

Serah nodded her thanks and turned to Gratia. "Just do it quick!" I added, keeping the fact Serah was still inflicted with Doom in mind. Again she nodded, and changed her bow into a sword. "Come and get me!" she said to the Eidolon. Gratia nodded and raised her scythe into the air, slamming it down and casting Quake. Pillars of earth and rocks erupted from the ground, and Serah shouted as she was cut. But she didn't stop, and rather charged forward. Gratia hesitated, momentarily surprised, and that gave Serah the chance to jump up and fire a volley of arrow at her chest. The Eidolon moved with blurring speed and blocked them, but Serah was already shooting at her side and head.

Gratia cast Waterga and sent the arrows away with torrent of water, through which Serah jumped and leaped high into the air. "Say goodbye!" she said, and gathered all her energy into one final shot. She let it go and the arrow sailed forward, just faster than Gratia could dodge, and it went through her robe and pierced the Eidolon over the heart. She froze for a moment, stunned, but then when Serah landed back down she smiled serenely. Both the Eidolon and her weapon began glowing, fading away as a quartz-white eidolith in the shape of a lily appeared and floated down towards Serah. She caught it, and gasped as the eternal bond between human and Eidolon was forged within her.

I smiled. "Incredible, isn't it?" I asked. I had little memory of when I bonded with my Eidolon- I sacrificed myself to save Lightning from a possible fatal attack minutes later. But from what I did remember, the connection a bonding between the human and Eidolon's very spirits. To feel your souls linked together was a sensation like no other. Serah nodded and smiled as the eidolith faded away. "Yes, it's amazing," she agreed, before suddenly there was a burst of shadows, and the Black Hole Gem the faeryl had swallowed appeared on the ground in front of us. Noel stepped forward, casting a Cure spell on his injuries and asking "Well, what should we do with it?" I thought about it for a moment, before holding Indomitus over my head and swinging down. The crystal shattered with the sound of breaking glass, and I said "That'll do nicely."

"I guess so. Do you think that will have fixed the paradox?" Serah asked. "Yeah. Now let's get back, before Snow gets himself into trouble," Noel said. I raised an eyebrow, and Serah asked "Are you worried about him?" "What? No, I just figured you'd be itching to see him again," he replied. Serah laughed slightly. "If there's one thing that I know about Snow, it's that he's as tough as a Behemoth. I don't worry too much about him when he's on his own," she said. "It's the same with me and Lightning. I love her more than I could ever say and we both hate staying apart, but we know each of us can survive on our own," I added. "You know, I could never do what you all do. Staying apart and doing your own thing, even though you love each other.

"You never know when someone might disappear from your life. Take it from me, you have to make every moment count," Noel said seriously. "Noel…" Serah said softly. I was about to say something, but then his expression cleared. "But it's okay. I believe we can change our fate. If I didn't I wouldn't be here," he said. I cracked my knuckles and worked my head from side to side. "Alright then, it's time we made our way back to Sunleth then," I announced. They both nodded, and so we walked back to the gate we came from.

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When we made it back Snow was still there, having been a good boy from once and did what he had been told. Sadly, the giant flan was still there too. "Hey guys, I don't think it worked. You managed to put a dam in front the flood of little flan, but that big one… he ain't going anywhere," Snow said. I groaned and face-palmed myself. "I just remembered something. For every Black Hole Gem that pulls things into a time rift, there's an opposite, a _White_ Hole Gem, which forces them out," I explained. "So while no more flan are coming in, the ones that are already here, like the giant one, are stuck because of the While Hole Gem?" Snow asked. "That's the idea. And if we want to find the White Hole Gem, we need to find another artefact," I said.

"Another one? How are we going to do that?" Noel asked. We were silent for a moment, until Serah gasped and pointed. "Look!" she called. We all turned, and saw that there was still a line of flan, albeit a much smaller one, moving through the woods. "No way. It can't be that simple," Noel said in disbelief. "Maybe it is. With one artefact gone, the flan are looking for another," Snow suggested. "In that case, we'd better follow them! That line won't stay there forever," Serah said. Noel and I didn't want to argue with the pink-haired woman who just gotten a brand-new Eidolon, and from the looks of it Snow wasn't going to anyway. So Serah took the lead and we followed, keeping up and trying to make sure the flan stayed in our sight.

Thankfully, our path was completely free of monsters of any kind. Soon though, our path came to an erupt stop at the edge of a cliff. "End of the road. We have to turn back," Noel said. I nodded an agreement and turned away, when suddenly the ground shook. It did so again, and then again, each time followed by resounding thump. From an opening an Enlil, one like the kind that Sazh and Vanille had fought in Sunleth long ago, only the size of three churches, lumbered forward. "Kupo?!" Mog called, stumbling back through the air at the sight of the massive beast. "Come on. No way can we take that," Noel said. As if to completely go against that, Snow walked forward and began waving his arms. "Hey! Furball! Over here!" he yelled.

"Snow!" Serah said, while I called "What are you doing?!" and Noel added "Don't encourage it." Not listening, Snow said "Hey big guy, we need help getting through this valley. Mind giving us a ride?" The Enlil turned around and began walking back the other direction. "I don't think it heard you," Serah said. "No answer. Guess I'll take that as a yes," Snow said. "It'll swallow you whole!" Noel protested, grabbing his arm. "Well, let's find out!" he replied, jumping down. He landed on the beasts back and jumped. "Bouncy," he commented. The Enlil reared its head back and whined, shaking itself. "Is it angry?" Serah asked. "I don't think so. I think he actually likes it," Noel said. "He just an itch that needed scratching. Come aboard; help me out!" Snow offered.

"Okay!" Serah said, and she and Mog jumped down. I shook my head in exasperation and did the same, with Noel jumping on last. The Enlil began moving forward, and we made sure to move about and scratch its back while it gave us a ride. The flan were moving in the same direction, and so all we had to do was make sure the beast's back was getting scratched and we were good. Halfway through it whined in contentment, and Serah said "I think he's in a good mood." "Maybe he's looking forward to the free lunch on his back," Noel suggested. "No worries! If he does attack, we'll think of something," Snow said confidently. Noel sighed and said "How have you even survived this long?"

I laughed. "There are three reasons actually. One: He's tougher than the thing we're currently hitching a ride on. Two: He actually does have a few brain cells in that head of his. And three: He had seven other l'Cie to bail him out if he was ever in trouble," I said. Snow made a sound of protest but Serah just laughed, and he changed his look to one of hurt pride. She didn't notice though, and so we reached the end of the path without any more trouble. We jumped off the Enlil and it trudged away, shaking its back happily as its itch was gone. The flan had reached the end of the path, and Serah smiled. "So this is where they were all trying to get to," she said. "Now we'll see what all the fuss is about," Snow said, pumping his fists together.

"Let's break up the party and get our artefact," Noel said. I nodded and pulled off Indomitus, and leaped high into the air. "Yoo-hoo!" I called, and the flan looked up just in time for me to deliver a punishing series of Thundara spells. Most of the flan shrieked and ran away, but five remained behind to try and keep us from the artefact. Snow smiled and ran forward, yelling and hitting one with a massive hammer fist. The flan was flattened to almost two-dimensional proportions, and the other four all cast Fire as one. Four balls of flame shot forth and were each took a hit, and I quickly healed the burns with Cura. Serah cast the same number of Ruin spells on one of them, and it let out a shriek as it was blasted away and over the edge down into the valley. Noel stabbed another straight in the head with his smaller sword, and I knocked out with the butt of my sword. "And that's that!" Snow said, casting Blizzara and freezing the last flan into an ice sculpture.

Mog flew forward and grabbed the artefact, handing it to Serah. "Thank you, Mog," she said, and he replied "Kupo!" "He's a weird litter. Looks like he stepped right out of Nautilus," Snow commented, rubbing Mog's stomach and poking him here and there. "Kupo, kupo, kupo!" Mog replied, laughing. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. He's like a theme park mascot," Serah said. "What's a theme park?" Noel asked, oblivious. Serah faintly surprised, but explained "Well, it's a place where people go just to go on ride and have fun." He still looked a little confused, so I added "They usually only exist in times that are peaceful and full of civilization. Not like where you're from."

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Snow asked. Noel smirked. "A place that doesn't have much in the way of fun or civilization. That's where I'm from," he replied. "Kind of reminds me of Vanille and Fang. Come to think of it, he's a lot like them," Snow said. "Good point," I agreed. "Really? How so?" Noel asked. "They were born on Gran Pulse, just like you. Back then, on Cocoon, that was really unusual," Serah told him. "We have things in common," he surmised. Snow looked at the parts of the pillar that could be seen. "I'll be sure to introduce them to you. One of these days," he said. "Sounds good to me. But until then, let's make sure that they stay well, and find that White Hole Gem," I said.

They nodded, and so we left the area to find the gate. When we did it began spinning, and Serah said "We have to do this. We can't afford to fail. If we don't find a way to defeat that flan…" "Hey, don't get too wound up now. People start to make mistakes when they stress out too much, if you know what I mean," Snow reminded her. Serah sighed, and smiled thankfully. "Maybe you're right," she admitted. Snow smiled, satisfied that he had helped, and added "Anyway, you kids take care." "We'll be back!" I said, and walked through the gate. Serah nodded in agreement and followed, Noel coming through last.

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And Serah now has her own Eidolon! Boo-yah! But why did she gain this power and what could it mean? And we all know what happens once our heroes have the White Hole Gem, so buckle up for the ride!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)


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